Maravi

Rupiah calls for business co-operation with China

Rupiah calls for business co-operation with China
By Sandra Lombe and Edwin Mbulo in Livingstone
Thu 13 May 2010, 04:30 CAT

PRESIDENT Rupiah Banda has urged the private sector to work with their Chinese counterparts so that they can access resources from the China development fund. And China Development Bank (CDB) chief executive officer Jiang Chaoliang hoped China would further extend its relationship and help to improve Zambia’s economy.

During the meeting with the Chinese delegation from CDB and China- Africa Development Fund (CADF) at Royal Zambezi in Livingstone yesterday, President Banda said it was his desire to see that the co-operation with China benefits the people of Zambia.

“I am pleased to also note that we are also witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) pertaining to the development of the agriculture sector,” he said.

He said the delegation’s visit to Zambia was a fulfillment of China’s commitment to Africa. President Banda welcomed the plan by CADF to establish a regional office in Zambia.

“This is indeed a positive development. Apart from offering job opportunities, it will accord the Zambian business community a chance to join hands with their Chinese counterparts and access muchneeded funds to invest in all sectors of the economy,” President Banda said.

“The selection of Zambia as the location for the central and east Africa office of China-Africa Development Fund no doubt demonstrates the positive investments environment that Zambia has created.”

He noted that CDB and CADF had supported projects in the mining, energy and telecommunication sectors.

“A number of companies in Zambia including China Non-ferrous Metals Mining Company, Albidon and MTN have benefited from their financial support,” he said.

He said during his visit to China, a number of MoUs were signed between China and Zambia and he was assured that more would be signed.

“I am glad that this is becoming a reality. As a developing country, Zambia requires considerable resources support to supplement government programmes. This is more evident now that Zambia is looking for resources to build multi-sectoral infrastructure. For this reason we welcome assistance from China to bridge the resource gap,” he said.

President Banda said about US $5 billion would be availed to companies in the mining sector following the signing of the MoU between CDB and the Ministry of Mines.

President Banda said the government would continue to work very hard to make Zambia an economic success story.

And Jiang, through an interpreter, said CDB was willing to assist Zambia speed up the work on the Kafue George project, which he said was delayed.

“We would like to provide funding for the works on the hydro-electricity works especially the Kafue George power station which we understand the feasibility studies are not yet done,” he said.

Jiang said he was humbled that President Banda travelled a long distance from Lusaka to Livingstone to meet his delegation, a clear indication of the good cooperation between the governments of China and Zambia.

“I paid part of my attention to the visit of our President Hu Jintao in 2007 and your recent visit to China this year, this will contribute to the economic development to Zambia. Yesterday Wednesday I had discussion with the ministers of energy, mines and mineral resources and we like to share three things with you. The CDB is 100 per cent owned by government committed to long term financing … we also take as our mandate to finance small to medium scale projects,” he said.

Jiang said the CDB was also financing projects in Russia, Brazil and other countries.

“Financing in Russia stands at US $25 billion while in Brazil the financing stands at US $7 billion, in Turkestan it is at US $4 billion. Because of all the progress, we have made it as a leading bank and we have put Africa as our focus,” he said.

Jiang wished his bank could further expand co-operation to the agricultural sector because Zambia was endowed with many natural resources and rich land.

Jiang said the bank would also be willing to fund small and medium enterprises in the country if they needed assistance.

Jiang said the bank would like to work on an equity partnership programme on mining, agriculture, tourism and energy.

Jiang urged President Banda to set up a committee that could conduct a comprehensive cooperation network with CDB.

In response, President Banda said the committee was right before the delegation’s eyes and asked energy minister Kenneth Konga to chair it.

The Chinese delegation included Jiang, CDB director general international finance Liang Husiang and CADF chief executive officer Chi Jianxin among others.

The Zambian delegation included Konga, agriculture minister Peter Daka, mines minister Maxwell Mwale, commerce deputy minister Dr Lwipa Puma and finance deputy minister Chileshe Kapwepwe.

Labels: CADF, CHINA, CHINA DEVELOPMENT BANK, RUPIAH BANDA

posted by MrK @ 4:05 PM