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Bilateral cooperation with China spelled out and confirmed

Bilateral cooperation with China spelled out and confirmed

Namibia is home to a sizeable number of Chinese speaking residents, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Hon Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah told His Excellency Wang Yi, the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs during an official visit to China last week.

The three-day visit included discussions on a range of bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest and common concern to China and Namibia.

“As a developing country, China is very much aware of the concerns and aspirations of other developing countries. Furthermore, during this visit we reaffirmed our long standing relationship that dates back to the days of the Namibian liberation struggle” Minister Nandi-Ndaitwah told her Chinese counterpart.

In the international arena, the Namibian and Chinese governments agreed to continue cooperation in the implementation of agreed developmental agendas such as AU Agenda 2063, the Sustainable Developmental Goals or Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

“We also agreed to continue exchanging views on matters of common concern to ensure that we maintain peace and security in Africa and in the world at large. We further called on all those engaged in conflicts to find solutions through negotiation, as opposed to war” the minister said at her final press briefing.

On the economic front she stated “We committed ourselves to strengthen our economic cooperation, with particular focus on investment and trade in the areas of manufacturing, value addition and agriculture, among others. To that end Namibia welcomes Chinese companies to forge Joint Ventures with Namibian companies for tangible investment to be realized.”

Regarding the UN Security Council, the two ministers said “We confirmed our determination to continue to work together [for] the reform of the UN Security Council and bring about a democratic and fair representation for Africa in this important organ of the United Nations.”

Last week’s was not Nandi-Ndaitwah’s first visit to China. In September 1995, she spent a considerable amount of time in Beijing for the Conference on Women where the Beijing Platform for Action for Equality, Development and Peace was proposed.

“The legacy of the Beijing Platform for Action lives on and its historic contribution to gender equality is recognized throughout the world. China indeed plays an important role as one of the great powers in questions of enhancing the status and role of women throughout the world” she said.

On recent cooperation, she cited the Chinese Government’s support to Namibia during the drought, and the training of Namibian medical doctors at Chinese universities.

On free speech, Minister Nandi-Ndaitwah told Minister Wang Yi that she wants to assure him that Namibia highly values the work of the media as an important partner in the process of national development.

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