With a view to deepening mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation and achieving the common development of China and the Caribbean region, the government of the People's Republic of China and the government of Trinidad and Tobago will co-host the 3rd China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum (CCETCF) in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago from September 12 to 13, 2011. Vice Premier Wang Qishan of the State Council of China will participate in the forum on behalf of the Chinese government. I hereby wish the forum a great success with rich fruits.
The Bahamas is one of the member states of the forum. The Chinese government attaches great importance to developing practical cooperative relations with The Bahamas. In order to express the friendship of the Chinese government and people to the Bahamian government and people and to assist the Bahamian government in its rescue and reconstruction work in the wake of Hurricane Irene, Vice Premier Wang Qishan will bring a US$300,000 grant in cash on behalf of the Chinese government to the Bahamian government and will witness the signing of an economic and technical cooperation agreement between the two countries during his visit to The Bahamas prior to his travel to Trinidad and Tobago.
Review of Bahamas-China relationship
As Chinese Ambassador to The Bahamas, I'd like to take the opportunity on the convening of the forum to review what we have done in China-Bahamas economic and trade cooperation in recent years, and look ahead to the prospects of future cooperation. By doing so, I wish to promote China-Bahamas economic and trade cooperation to a new high.
In accordance with the joint statement issued by the governments of China and The Bahamas and the Xianmen Declaration reached among enterprises from the two countries during the 2nd CCETCF in September 2007, both sides have put relevant measures into effect conscientiously, thus yielding positive results.
Firstly, the bilateral trade volume has been growing fast. According to the statistics of the Chinese General Administration of Customs, the bilateral trade volumes between China and The Bahamas in the four successive years of 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 were US$180 million, US$385 million, US$423 million and US$628 million respectively, up by 9.8 percent, 113 percent, 9.5 percent and 48.5 percent year-on-year. And, the 2010 figure was 3.47 times that in 2006.
Secondly, substantial progress has been made in investment. The Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium, built on a Chinese grant, was handed over to the Bahamian government on June 22, 2011. The Chinese government also honored its commitment to providing a RMB 400 million (about US$58 million) concessional loan for the Nassau Airport Gateway Project. The construction of the gateway started in June 2011 and is expected to be completed in 2013. Moreover, the EximBank of China offered a commercial loan of US$2.45 billion to the Baha Mar project, a large-scale holiday resort; and the China State Construction Engineering Corporation also invested US$150 million in it. The project started on February 21, 2011 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014. The resort is expected to open for business in the first half of 2015.
Thirdly, the first step of agricultural cooperation has already been taken. An MOU on agricultural cooperation was signed by the two governments in February 2009. Experts, engineers and market researchers from the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences and some Chinese enterprises have paid an on-the-spot inspection in The Bahamas. Some enterprises expect to develop agriculture here. Some have even submitted investment cooperation plans to the Bahamian government.
Fourthly, human resources training programs were well received by the participants. From 2007 to 2010, 90 Bahamians including government officials, business managers and technical personnel were sponsored by the Chinese government to participate in 40 training courses and seminars of various kinds. From 2008 to 2011, 22 Bahamian young students were granted Chinese government full scholarship, majoring in a variety of specialities such as traditional medicine, international trade, telecommunications and computer technology. In 2011, the Chinese government provided another three Bahamian officers with a one-year postgraduate training opportunity in China.
Apart from the above, the Confucius Classroom was approved by the governments of China and The Bahamas to be established at the College of The Bahamas, and it was formally unveiled in November 2009. A teacher from China started to teach the Chinese language in the classroom in early 2011.
Fifthly, tourism cooperation has expanded gradually, with more and more Chinese tourists targeting The Bahamas. In December 2008 and March 2009, the Chinese Tourist Agencies Association twice organized operators of its member agencies on invitation to make an on-the-spot investigation of the Bahamian tourist market. The Ministry of Tourism and Aviation of The Bahamas and Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd. have established their offices respectively in China in an effort to develop new tourism products. During the Chinese New Year holidays in 2011, the first ever group of Chinese tourists choosing The Bahamas as their destination, made an eight-day tour in New Providence and some Family Islands.
Sixthly, personnel exchange has been expanding. Since 2007, the number of Bahamians visiting China has been on the rise steadily. More and more people from the Bahamian business circle participated in the Guangzhou (Canton) Trade Fair and other international investment and trade fairs held in China. Meanwhile, the number of Chinese visiting The Bahamas has also increased very quickly. There are two major reasons for that. The substantial progress of Chinese-invested projects in The Bahamas attracted more business visitors from China. The exchange of high-level visits between the two countries gave rise to deeper people-to-people understanding and more Chinese citizens visiting The Bahamas.
The road ahead
The economic and trade cooperation between our two countries foresees a bright future, featuring a high starting point, fast growth and great potential. Thus, there's more to be done. For a long period of time, from now on, the bilateral investment will focus on areas such as infrastructure, finance, tourism, renewable energy resources, agriculture and fisheries. And such cooperation will surely result in mutual-benefit and a win-win scenario.
In terms of infrastructure, The Bahamas has great demands for the construction of roads, airports, docks and small bridges while Chinese enterprises have the advantage in this field.
In terms of finance, The Bahamas is a major financial center in the Caribbean region. Over 270 international banks and financial institutions have registered and operated their businesses here. The Bahamian side wishes to see Chinese commercial banks set up branches in The Bahamas.
In the tourism sector, The Bahamas is one of the countries that got approved destination status for Chinese tourists. With the smooth construction and operation of the Baha Mar project, coupled with relevant facilitation measures in place from the Bahamian side, more and more Chinese tourists will target The Bahamas as their touring destination.
In the area of renewable energy, The Bahamas has promulgated some policies to boost the use of renewable energy resources. Its market demand for renewable energy is gradually growing. China takes the lead in utilizing solar and wind power in the world, and the Chinese skills in this area well suit the needs of The Bahamas.
As for agriculture and fisheries, The Bahamas is not yet able to realize self-sufficiency in grain currently. However, there's some quite good arable land lying idle on some of its islands. Chinese enterprises can come over to develop livestock and poultry as well as vegetable farms. They can also explore the possibility of developing aquatic products on these islands.
With regard to medical cooperation, China is famous for its traditional medicine, in particular its treatments by acupuncture and medicinal herbs. The traditional Chinese medicine is effective to many diseases, such as functional diseases, chronic diseases, mental diseases, gynecological diseases, initial recovery from serious illnesses, diseases with causes hard to diagnose and difficult and complicated diseases. There are many such diseases in The Bahamas and a variety of wild herbs here that can be used as medicine. Treatment with traditional Chinese medicine is less costly but very effective. So we are taking the initiative in setting up a traditional Chinese medicine research and treatment center in The Bahamas where doctors from both sides can work together to serve the Bahamian people in need of treatment.
In conclusion, China and The Bahamas have achieved great progress in bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and there's still more for us to do. Given that it is in line with the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples to strengthen our economic and trade cooperation, we will continue to make our efforts in this regard.
Sep 09, 2011
