| Speaking Notes for Vice Minister of Commerce An Min for Press Conference on the China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Forum |
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| 2005-02-08 16:26 |
Friends from the media,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon. Welcome to the press conference of the 1st China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum.
As the friendly relations between China and the Caribbean nations continue to strengthen, and the mutually beneficial cooperation keeps expanding in scale, there has been an increasing desire and keenness to cooperate. In such a scenario, the Chinese government initiated the China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum in March 2004, to which Caribbean countries have responded and supported actively.
This inaugural forum is co-sponsored by the Chinese government and the Jamaican government, and has an attendance of 936 distinguished delegates from government agencies, regional organizations and business communities of both China and the Caribbean. Jamaican Prime Minister Patterson and Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong attended and addressed the Forum’s opening ceremony, and made important suggestion on how to further deepen China-Caribbean economic and trade relations, to which all participating state leaders and heads of government have subscribed. National leaders present at the Forum all witnessed the signing of the China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Co-operation Forum Ministerial Conference 2005 Guiding Framework of Economic and Trade Co-operation. On this occasion, China also announced its decision to grant Approved Destination Status to all the Caribbean countries that it has established diplomatic relations with, and signed relevant MOUs with Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados and St. Lucia.
Delegates to the Forum also participated in other major events, namely the four parallel sessions for discussions on such topics as economic and trade exchanges and human resources cooperation, and tourism development and transportation cooperation, and the China-Caribbean Trade Fair. Today’s Forum events include the Business Conference, Business Networking, the signing of relevant documents between China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and its counterparts in the Caribbean, and the signing of agreements on economic and trade cooperation projects by enterprises of both sides. So far, all the events of the Forum have been basically completed, and the feedbacks from various parties are fairly positive.
The Forum has proven very fruitful, and laid down a new basis for furthering mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation between China and the Caribbean nations. I am of the belief that our joint efforts will further enhance cooperation between China and the Caribbean in such fields as economy and trade, tourism, human resources development, finance, and civil aviation and transportation.
Thank you.
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