Guyana inks US$2.6M pact for grant aid from China

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56528859

Guyana inks US$2.6M pact for grant aid from China
Stabroek News, Saturday, September 15th 2007

China has pledged some US$533M of favourable loans over a three-year
period for investment in the Caribbean by Chinese companies while the
Government of Guyana has signed a 20M Yuan economic agreement with the
Chinese which would assist in further developing and strengthening the
friendly relations and economic cooperation between the two countries.
A release from the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce stated
that the agreement between the two countries, which is worth about
US$2.6M, was signed by Tourism Minister Manniram Prashad during the
recently-concluded 2nd China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation
Forum held between September 6 and 10.

The agreement, the release stated, will see China providing the sum of
money as grant aid to Guyana.

And the US$533M commitment to the Caribbean was made by Vice-Premier Wu
Yi during her speech at the forum and she said that the money would be
given to the companies over a three-year period.

While addressing the delegates from 13 countries, the Vice-Premier also
committed her country to help train government officials and various
technical professionals by offering 2,000 training opportunities within
the next three years.

China will also continue to provide scholarships to students from the
Caribbean region and send Chinese teachers and medical teams to the
countries in need. Yi also stated in her speech that the Chinese
government is committed to improving trade conditions while promoting
balanced trade. It is expected that cooperation with Caribbean
countries in the entry-exit inspection and quarantine will be
strengthened and there would be improved market access conditions.
China is also prepared to send experts in agriculture to assist in crop
planting and farming, agriculture equipment production, and processing
of agriculture products, among other areas.

During the forum Minister Prashad promoted Guyana as a tourist
destination while adding that Guyana is an emerging economy with
enormous untapped potential. Meanwhile, China committed to encouraging
more of its people to travel to the Caribbean for leisure and business.