From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Wed May 06 2009 - 08:06:21 EDT
China expects to strengthen mutual-benefit cooperation with Eritrea:
ambassador
2009-05-04 09:29
China expects to strengthen mutual benefit cooperation with Eritrea in
various sectors, including bilateral trade, agriculture, health, culture and
education fields, Shu Zhan, Chinese ambassador to Eritrea said here on
Sunday.
Shu made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua ahead of the upcoming 16th
anniversary of the founding of the State of Eritrea, with which China
established relations on the exact day when Eritrea formally announced
independence on May 24, 1993.
"China and Eritrea has developed truly friendship since a long time ago.
There are many exchanges of visits by top officials from both sides in
recent years, with the bilateral ties deepened steadily," the Chinese envoy
said.
He further elaborated on some projects which Chinese companies undertook in
the Eastern African country with the aid from the Chinese government,
including a hospital, a human and social science institute, as well as two
rural primary schools.
Bilateral trade cooperation has been strengthened, with trade volume
reaching 31 million U.S. dollars in 2008, a 7.6 percent year-on-year
increase , according to the statistics from the Chinese Ministry of
Commerce.
Shu also mentioned that bilateral cooperation in the agricultural sector has
been constantly deepened as the Eritrean agricultural minister and
provincial governors made visits to China to learn experience and technology
to develop agriculture in Eritrea.
The two sides also reached intention of cooperation in the fields of
introducing seeds, irrigation technology and human training methods from
China, the Chinese top diplomat added.
He also noted that the bilateral cooperation and exchanges in the fields of
health, culture and education has developed smoothly, as Eritrea began to
send college youth tutors to China for master's degrees in 2008, and China
last year assigned computer and Chinese language teachers, as well as
agriculture and sports volunteers, to work in Eritrea.
On the economic developments of Eritrea in the past 16 years, Shu said the
small eastern African country, under the leadership of President Isaias
Afwerki, are exerting efforts to maintain political stability and improve
the people's life in the meantime, as well as develop the telecommunication
infrastructure.
More dams and hospitals have been established in Eritrea, and the
anti-malaria and the maternal and infant death rate reducing efforts have
achieved a lot to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, the
Chinese envoy added.
As the current global financial crisis is impacting Eritrea's economy,
especially its reduced foreign remittance, Shu emphasized that Chinese
leaders have clearly pledged that China will continue to increase aid to
Africa, reduce or cancel African countries' debts, expand its trade and
increase investment in Africa, despite the impact of the global financial
crisis on China.
He added that the follow-up measures of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on
China-Africa Cooperation in 2006 has been implemented well in Eritrea.
Eritrea, which currently has the population of about 5 million, formally
announced its independence from Ethiopia in 1993.
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