PM Roosevelt Skerrit unveils potential areas of collaboration between China and Dominica

Roseau, Dominica: Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit shared the details of his recent visit to the People’s Republic of China and unveiled the partnership on several areas of economy, education, health and infrastructure.

Addressing the press conference, he stated that the aim of the visit is to mark the 20 years of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries. The visit served as the platform to restate their commitment to the friendly ties which have existed between the two countries for the past two decades.

He noted that several interactions have taken place during the visit where Dominica delegation received the highest level of consideration by all such as President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

The highlight of their visit was the meeting with President Jinping on March 25, where they both agreed that their relations are a firm example of successful collaboration and a model for mutual respect between developing countries.

“China is a true friend of Dominica,” stated the Prime Minister with the assurance that the President Jinping and his government intended to maintain and strengthen ties and explore further cooperation in areas of economy, education, health and infrastructure.

Prime Minister Skerrit added that President Jinping expressed an appreciation for Dominica’s steadfast friendship as he was willing to work with the country to develop fresh strategies to increase cooperation and deliver sustained benefits to the people.

“I welcome these expressions of friendship and cooperation and pledge Dominica’s commitment to fostering an even deeper alliance with China and expanding our economic links in new areas such as tourism e-commerce and renewable energy, ”said the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Skerrit also held similar discussions with Premier Li to outline specific areas of collaboration. He said that their discussion was fruitful which could assure the continued partnership with the People’s Republic of China on major initiatives designed to uplift the lives and livelihoods of the citizens.

The initiatives included the road from the new International Airport to Portsmouth as the road project is substantial cost and 20 bridges will be constructed. The confirmation has also been received by Dominica that the assistance will be provided to construct a cultural centre for Dominica which will include space for performing arts and other entertainment aspects including the construction of a movie theatre.

In addition to that, a pledge of over $27 million for interventions to go towards budget support and government initiatives to be determined the government. “I intend to assign part of that money to commence the future housing program in Warner to address issues of housing mong the new middle class of young professionals in Dominica,”said the Prime Minister.

Dominica delegation also made presentations for assistance to construct a new cruise and Cargo Port.

In other matters, Dominica delegation signed 10 agreements and memorandum of understanding with the government of People’s Republic of China which included:

• The delegation collaborated with China for phase 9 of the agriculture technical cooperation project as Dominica just concluded phase 9. The additional funding being made available to advance the technical cooperation with the two countries, aiming to enhance farmers and agriculture sector.
• It also included the construction of the Colihaut river wall, home repairs and construction of the modern toilets.
• The third MOU featured the handover certificates of the agriculture science complex building in Portsmouth.
• The fourth collaboration talked about the economic and technical cooperation between Dominica and China.
• The cooperation plans have also made on jointly promoting the Belt and Road initiative.
• The sixth featured the strengthening development cooperation and promotion of implementation of the global development initiative
• In the seventh, the consideration was given by the two countries on green and low carbon development between National Development and Reform Commission of China and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Dominica.
• In the eighth, the exchanges and cooperations were held in the field of Economic Development between the national development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance of Dominica.
• Ninth featured the news cooperation between news agency of China and the government information service of Dominica.
• The tenth MOU was signed between China Media group and the government information service of Dominica.

In addition to that, the visit also provided opportunity to meet with potential investors to pitch ideas for sustainable business ideas in Dominica. Dominica delegation made presentations to several business leaders and investors, outlining opportunities in tourism, renewable energy, agriculture and e-commence.

He said, ”There is a high interest in exploring business and investment opportunities here and we will push these in efforts to open new gateways to economic growth. I also address the BOAO for Asia forum where I urge leaders to adopt a collaborative approach to addressing Global Challenges such as climate change and economic inequality.”

Talking about his visit to Shanghai, he said that they explored its rapid development in foreign trade investment and met with vice mayor to discuss possible collaboration, specifically in business and industry.