São Tomé and China define areas of cooperation

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, speaks next to his Sao Tome counterpart, Urbino Botelho, during a joint press statement in Beijing, Dec. 26, 2016

São Tomé and Príncipe and China began on Thursday in São Tomé the process of defining the areas of cooperation with priority for agriculture, health, energy and infrastructure, announced the representative of the Chinese mission in the archipelago, Zhou Zhaoming.

The Director General of the Department of West Asia and Africa of the Ministry of Commerce of China, Zhou Zhaoming, who heads a multi-ministerial delegation to the archipelago, made the announcement at the end of an audience granted to him by the Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe.

“We have already started to define the main areas for the framework program of cooperation with São Tomé and Príncipe, to be started soon,” said the head of the Chinese delegation, who cited agriculture, health, energy and infrastructure as priority areas.

The delegation, which arrived in São Tomé on Thursday morning, includes senior officials from various ministries of China as well as technical experts, who together with the authorities of São Tomé and Príncipe will define the program and format for bilateral cooperation.

This mission comes four days after the China Road & Bridge Corporation (CRBC) expressed interest in participating in projects aimed to build a deep water port at an estimated cost of USD800 million and the modernization of the São Tomé international airport, which is expected to cost USD15 million.

São Tomé and Príncipe and the People’s Republic of China re-established diplomatic relations on 26 December last year at the expense of Taiwanese diplomatic relations, which cooperated with the archipelago in the same areas with monetary support estimated at US$16 million dollars annually. MDT/Macauhub