On the afternoon of June 14, 2023, H.E. Mr. Zhao Weiping, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Namibia, held a press conference with representatives from 9 media houses of Namibia at the Chinese Embassy. The transcript of the press conference is as follows.
Amb. Zhao:
Friends from the media, welcome to this event. I wish to take this opportunity to exchange views with you on all the issues of common interest. I know it is not easy to be a journalist, and maybe every day you have to find something to write for yourself. I don’t know whether our conversation today will be useful for you, but I am ready to share with you what is really in my mind and I will do my best to answer all the questions you may raise.
There is one thing in particular I wish to tell you, that is, I hope to have more engagements with you. I hope to host a press meeting with you every six months. If necessary, I can also host quarterly meetings with you. Of course it very much depends on whether you will accept my invitation or whether you have the interest to come. Anyway, on my part, it’s very clear that I will not close myself off from the media. I like to talk with you and I will not be evasive in answering your questions. But I will only answer those questions which I really know something about, and I will not pretend to know everything.
As the opening remarks, I just want to emphasize one point, that is, both China and African countries are developing countries. We are friends whether in the past, at present or in future. Never believe those guys who tell you that China is pursuing so-called neo-colonialism in Africa, which is not true at all. China and African countries have always been supporting and helping each other politically, economically and diplomatically. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. And it’s an equal relationship. China never imposes its own will or interests upon African countries.
It’s equally false if someone tells you that China is threatening the so-called rules-based international order. We did have been advocating for building a community with a shared future for mankind. We did have been working very hard in pushing forward the Belt and Road Initiative, and this year marks the 10th anniversary of the introduction of this Initiative. We did have proposed the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI), and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI). What we have said and done by these concepts or actions may not have pleased some countries, but there is nothing we should blame ourselves. Our purpose for these initiatives or actions is simply to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity. I hope and believe more and more of our African friends will understand this. What we have been doing has already and will continue to benefit the developing countries, including African countries.
Just take the Global Development, Security and Civilization Initiatives as an example. The 8 priority areas in the Global Development Initiative are major issues on socioeconomic development that African countries are concerned with, namely poverty alleviation, food security, pandemic response and vaccines, financing for development, climate change and green development, industrialization, digital economy and connectivity.
In the Global Security Initiative, several priorities of cooperation are in the direct interests of Africa, such as supporting the provision of sufficient, predictable and sustainable financial assistance to the African Union (AU) for it to carry out autonomous peacekeeping operations, supporting cooperation among China, Africa and Europe on small arms and light weapons control under the premise of respecting the will of Africa as well as supporting the implementation of the initiative of Silencing the Guns in Africa, supporting the efforts of African countries, the AU and sub-regional organizations to resolve regional conflicts, fight terrorism and safeguard maritime security as well as calling on the international community to provide financial and technical support to Africa-led counter-terrorism operations.
The Global Civilization Initiative advocates for respect for the diversity of civilizations, common values of humanity, the importance of inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation. The essence of the Global Civilization Initiative is its emphasis on refraining from imposing a country’s own values or models on others and from stoking ideological confrontation. I believe our African friends certainly agree with these points.
So I will conclude my opening speech with these remarks. These points may not be of your interests, that’s OK. If you have interest in those remarks, especially if you have interest in the 3 initiatives I mentioned, I think we’ve prepared some written information for your further reference. I welcome any comments or questions you may have, not necessarily related to what I just said. It could be anything you want to discuss with me. I really hope our exchange this afternoon will not be very official but one in which everyone feel relaxed and comfortable. I will just stop here and give the floor to all of you.
Q: May I start. I’m Ogono from Namibian Sun. China proposed Namibia to participate in its Belt and Road Initiative, we have not yet seen any movement on that front. Could anyone from the Chinese side explain why Namibia has not participated in it so far? Thank you.
A: China and Namibia have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative back in 2018. BRI is a broad concept and something has already taken place in this regard between our two countries, and we usually put development assistance cooperation between our two countries in this category. In the area of the development assistance cooperation, some projects have already been carried out. I just want to mention the projects currently going on, such as the 2B section of the new airport road. That’s a Chinese Government grant project worth N$ 1 billion, and its construction is progressing well and the project is expected to be completed before the end of next year. That project is about 20 kilometers long as part of the new airport road you’re building. Infrastructure building is one of the important items under the Belt and Road Initiative. The other thing is that we’re currently building 4 schools in Kavango West and Zambezi Region. The construction of these schools is almost near completion. They’re expected to be handed over to the Namibian side this year. These projects are education related, which is also an important component of BRI. Also we have just recently started the construction of a satellite data receiving station here in Windhoek and that will help Namibia to strengthen its ability to use the satellite data for your social and economic development. In addition, we provide hundreds of training opportunities to Namibia every year, either short term training or long-term scholarships. Actually, quite a lot of projects are already going on in this regard. Of course we can still do more and there is still some grant money pledged by the Chinese Government which has not been used. Thank you.
Q: I’m from New Era. Hon. Kavana recently proposed visa exemption for Chinese nationals, I want to ask if China is also thinking about reciprocating on the visa policy?
A: Actually I also read the report in The Namibian. First, let me say something about the report in The Namibian concerning China-Namibian mutual visa exemption agreement. I should clarify some facts. First, the relevant discussion between our two governments on this matter actually started as early as in 2019. In June 2019, during the visit to Namibia by Mr. Xu Ganlu, Commissioner of Chinese National Immigration Administration, both sides agreed to pursue active consultation on this matter, and later on both sides held some discussion on the text of the agreement. However, due to the outbreak of the pandemic, relevant consultations have been stopped since 2020. Therefore, the information in the report that, I quoted, “the visa exemption deal is believed to have been conceived in March” this year, is not true. Actually, it started back in 2019. There doesn’t exist such issue of this agreement being pushed forward at a rapid speed as this report has indicated.
Second, by February this year, China has signed mutual visa exemption agreements with 152 countries, among which 134 countries and China grant mutual visa exemption for diplomatic or official passport holders, 18 countries and China give mutual visa exemption to all passport holders, including ordinary passport holders. In addition, there are 17 countries which unilaterally grant visa exemption for all Chinese citizens and another 40 countries grant Chinese citizens landing visa treatment. I also want to tell you, there are 17 African countries that have either signed mutual visa exemption agreements with China for all passport holders, or unilaterally granted Chinese citizens visa exemption, or unilaterally granted Chinese citizens landing visa treatment. Your neighbor Zimbabwe is one of these countries. It grants Chinese citizens landing visa treatment.
By presenting these statistics to you, I wish to tell you that as I understand, the purpose of the relevant countries which grant visa exemption to Chinese citizens is to attract Chinese tourists and promote people to people exchanges. I want to remind you in particular that what we are discussing with the Namibian side is an agreement to grant mutual visa exemption for all passport holders. I want to emphasize it will not be the unilateral granting of visa exemption by the Namibian side to Chinese citizens, but rather, it’s in fact a mutual granting. The Chinese side will also grant Namibian citizens visa exemption for all passport holders. That literally means everyone. Everyone, if you want to visit China, no visa is required once we have signed this agreement. I also invite you to particularly note that China has so far granted visa exemption for all passport holders to only very few countries. Actually only 18 countries as I mentioned just now. These are the facts I want to share with you.
And the third point, according to the news report in The Namibia, in March this year, a three-person delegation from the Namibian government traveled to Beijing for an all-expenses-paid trip sponsored by the Chinese government. So that was what you learned from the news report. But actually this allegation is simply not true. I think the idea of this delegation sponsored by the Chinese government must be the result of somebody’s imagination, but the imagination is not based on facts at all. Or it must be the result of pure fabrication by somebody out of ulterior purposes. The same news report also said that Beijing CSSCA Technology is a company with direct ties to the Chinese government. Again I tell you this allegation is simply not true. This company is a private company and has nothing to do with the Chinese government.
By clarifying the above facts, I wish to tell you that this agreement will benefit both countries and the discussion between our two governments on this matter is completely normal, and there is no secret deal behind as the news report seems to indicate. If this agreement is finally signed by both sides, it will certainly encourage more Chinese tourists to choose Namibia as their destination, and it will also certainly provide utmost convenience for Namibian people to visit China.
I wish to point out on this occasion in particular that some politicians in Namibia have made very irresponsible remarks on this matter. I don’t want to repeat their remarks, because some of the words they have used are very inappropriate. These words should not have come from anyone who is responsible. Maybe they want to use this matter to serve their political purpose, or maybe they just want to mislead the public.
I also want to remind you that more and more countries have expressed their willingness to sign mutual visa exemption agreements with China. This fact has once again demonstrated that such agreements benefit not only China, but also all the countries who want to enter into such arrangements. Otherwise, why do they want to have such arrangement in the first place? I hope I have answered your question. Thank you.
Q: Thank you Ambassador, you mentioned that Zimbabwe is one of the countries that have signed mutual visa exemption agreement with China, can you provide us with the list of the other 17 countries?
A：My colleague will provide it to you. Thank you.
Q: Just a follow-up on my original question. Our newspaper recently published an article which indicated that there was a lot of criticism that Chinese companies were shortlisted for road construction projects. Regarding this anti-Chinese sentiment, how do you take them and how does it affect your confidence in Chinese doing business in Namibia as the Chinese Ambassador?
A: I think Namibia should be proud of your good environment of rule of law. Although I’ve been here for only a few months, many friends have told me that Namibia pays high attention to your rule of law. So I think for every commercial or business transaction taking place in Namibia, it must be or at least should be done in accordance with your laws and regulations. For the case you mentioned, of course people may ask why all the bidders qualified to participate in the biding are Chinese companies? Maybe some people don’t understand, but I think it must be the result of market competition. And I think the relevant authorities of the Namibia government have already made explanation on that. I am not in a position to explain why, but I can’t imagine there are other reasons than market competition. Concerning the Chinese companies, and individual citizens, investment and business operation in Namibia, from time to time, there have been some criticism, as you mentioned, or something like that. Let me take this opportunity to share with you my observation on this matter.
First I want to tell you that the total number of Chinese citizens in Namibia is around 1700. It may surprise you, because according to some news reports, it seems that Chinese are everywhere. But actually I can tell you it’s only about 1700. Of course the numbers change from time to time. In the past, maybe it was many more than that, but currently the number is 1700. Among these 1700 people, about 700 work in relatively big Chinese companies in Namibia. Please note “relatively big Chinese companies”. Those companies have employed a total of around 6300 people, and among them, 5600 are local Namibian people. Please keep this figure in your mind.
In addition, there are about 1000 Chinese citizens who work in relatively small Chinese companies, the key word here is relatively small Chinese companies, or have their own small businesses here in Namibia. When I say 1000 Chinese citizens, this number includes some of their family members. According to the statistics provided by the local Chinese community, these 1000 Chinese citizens have employed about 5000 local Namibians in their small companies or businesses. Actually these figures surprised me. I double checked with the statistics provider from the Chinese community. I told them I will share this with the media here, so please, you must be accurate. And they assured me its accuracy. And for those 5000 local Namibian employed, 2000 of them are in the northern regions of Namibia, and 3000 are in Windhoek and its adjacent regions.
The above statistics tell us that the jobs created by the Chinese companies and individual citizens here in Namibia have far exceeded the number of the Chinese citizens in Namibia itself. It is a difference of 10,000 to 1700. That means 10,000 jobs created by the Chinese companies and citizens, and private businesses here and only 1700 Chinese citizens live and work here in Namibia.
From the economic perspective, the Chinese-owned Husab Uranium and Rossing Uranium alone have contributed to about 7% of Namibia’s GDP. 7%, this is another important figure. Their annual local purchase has reached about N$ 8 billion, and Husab Uranium alone has paid N$ 1.53 billion in tax to the Namibian government in 2021. These two examples are sufficient to draw the conclusion that the contribution by Chinese companies to Namibia’s economic development is obvious. In addition, Chinese companies and citizens are also very supportive of Namibia’s social development. To give you one example, earlier this year, in order to help the flood relief efforts in the northern regions of Namibia, local Chinese communities and relevant Chinese companies have donated about N$ 1 million to the central government and also relevant regional government of Namibia. Some big Chinese companies like the Husab Uranium and Rossing Uranium have established their own foundations to support the needs of the general public.
From time to time,we heard people saying that Chinese companies in Namibia, they are not respecting the local law, or they are not respecting the local culture here. I think there may be some individual cases, but we should not ignore the whole picture because of some individual cases. I think the whole picture is very positive. And I heard from some Namibia friends that before Chinese companies and citizens came into Namibia to provide service and commodities, even daily necessities were too expensive for low-income Namibians to buy. The Chinese business people came with low-price commodities. I think low-income Namibians need that and that’s good for the low incomers. And before Chinese construction companies were allowed to do business here, I was told that the construction market in Namibia was very much dominated by certain companies, and the cost for the construction was also very high. I think the Chinese companies have at least contributed to the lowering of the cost of the construction market here. I hope these points will be helpful for you. I am the Chinese Ambassador but I am doing my best to be objective.Thank you.
Q: Yes Ambassador, I just want to thank the Embassy and the Ambassador for this platform you have created. It’s good and I hope, as you have stated, will be something you would like to continue with so as to keep the channel for communication open, which means if anyone has questions, you’ll give them response on time. In the past it was a struggle we had to deal with. So, thanks, Comrade Ambassador.
A: Thank you.
Q: Good afternoon, what is your vision around Namibia joining BRICS? Do you want Namibia to join BRICS? And secondly, there’s a government report stating that China has given Namibia 127 million in foreign aid between 2020 and 2022, is that a totally free reflection of the development assistance or aid given to Namibia over those 3 years? Thank you.
A: As I said, China and African countries are all developing countries. And the current members of BRICS are also developing countries. And of course, the process of BRICS is already an expanding process, as at the beginning it had only 4 members. I think we have to be sure whether Namibia has made the application to join. So this question is not something we can answer by now. It’s a question whether Namibia has made up its mind to join that. But I have noticed that Namibia is very supportive of BRICS, so maybe sometime in the future Namibia will make its application. But now I can’t give further comment.
Q:Would you like them to join?
A: I think I have already answered your question. And your second question is concerning the amount of China’s development assistance to Namibia. And to be honest, it’s our practice not to disclose the specific amount in detail, though sometimes we did make certain figures public. What I can tell you is that I also read the news report in the Namibian early this week. There is a report about all the development partners, stating how much they have contributed to Namibia. I can assure you that China contributed more than what was reported in the newspaper. So is there any other question I didn’t answer?
Q: I have many to ask and perhaps you can give me some minutes. The one I want to ask is about the construction sector. You said that the main reason the Chinese companies are getting all the big tenders is because they are being competitive. I was just personally intending to disagree but you can correct me. The Ministry of Finance last year agreed that we get concessional loans from China, and one of the conditions is that the Chinese company will do the work. So are we saying that it’s competitiveness or because of the bilateral agreement that you have signed? In the future are we going to continue on those bases when we are getting the loans and the Chinese companies do the work? The second one is that we are all served by the Chinese companies and the construction sector and also the mining sector. But the Chinese companies don’t list here, making us unable to participate and buy their shares. In addition, they borrow from home, not here. If you look at the borrowing of the mining sector, it comes straight from home. If they start borrowing here, we’ll also benefit. And also in terms of the taxable amount from them, it is also very very small. What’s your comment on that?
A:For your first question, we have to put it in the context. The first case you mentioned was about the 7 Chinese companies. They happened to be all the 7 bidders qualified for that project. So we are talking about that project. That’s the first point I want to clarify. I know your question is general, but my first point is that we have to clarify that first. For that case, I can’t imagine any other reason than market competitiveness. (Q: oh, not concessional agreement?) That’s not a Chinese government soft loan or Chinese government grant assistance project. That’s a project, according to the newspaper, which will be constructed using money from Europe. So there’s nothing to do with the Chinese government’s money. That’s the first point I want to make. And for the Chinese soft loan projects, in Namibia, we currently have no soft loan project, that’s the point you have to bear in your mind. Currently no, no such soft loan projects in Namibia. (Q: airport one?) For the airport, actually your government divided it into 3 sections. And only the section I mentioned, section 2B, is being constructed with Chinese Government grant assistance. For the Chinese government grant assistance project, it’s agreed between Namibia and China that it has to be contracted to Chinese companies, but as to which Chinese company, it will also go through bidding processes chaired by the Namibian government. I think that’s fair because that’s the project using Chinese grant money. And for the other two sections, they are currently also being built by Chinese companies. But for these two sections, the financing has nothing to do with Chinese government. That means for those two sections, they have gone through normal bidding procedure established by your government. So much for your first question.
Q: Ambassador, would you mind if I could interrupt before you answer his next question? I have a question very similar to his. The one thing that I hear a lot is that these soft loans that come with the condition that Chinese companies has to be contracted to that project. The Chinese might say, look, these are our conditions, and the Namibian government has the choice to walk away if they don't accept the conditions. Every time when Namibian government signs an agreement with China, China gets blamed that there are certain conditions, but the Namibian government accepts these condition and these conditions look like the best conditions they can go with. What is your comment on this?
A: Let me answer it. I have to emphasize again there’s no soft loan projects now between Namibia and China. And it has been quite some years since we had soft loan project last time. I don’t remember when it was, at least 3 or 4 years ago. That means in the past several years we haven’t had any soft loan project at all. So that’s a very important fact we have to bear in our mind. And according to our experience, actually the Namibian government is very careful in borrowing from other countries. That’s why your debt ratio is still low. That is still very safe. So you have to commend your government, your government actually is very careful in borrowing foreign money. You don’t need to worry too much, maybe I should not say that. But the fact is that only 70%, that’s very safe. It seems to me that Namibia is very sensitive to borrowing too much from other countries. I don’t have any example of soft loan for you because I already said, it’s already been several years when there is no project. I just give you one example, even the Chinese government grant assistance project, your government is also very careful. For all such projects, we have to sign implementation agreement, and your government is very careful in selecting the terms and words used in the document. Sometimes we do think why we don’t proceed faster, but Namibian government always say, well, do it according to your procedure. So that’s why I said there is still quite some money just lying there, without being used, because we have not moved as fast as possible and you have so much internal scrutiny. And that’s why sometimes it takes longer than we expected. I already wake myself up to your other questions. Do you still want me to answer that or you just have other questions?
Q: I want that of the mine sector. Most of the mines, the bigger ones, are owned by companies from China, and it seems that you also read the local newspapers, so maybe you’ll know that Namra has indicated that some of the sectors they have to scrutinize, such as the mining and fishing sectors, the Chinese companies in the sectors are just borrowing from outside instead of borrowing from inside. Now we have some issues with rising numbers of inbound transfer to Chinese companies accounts in Namibia. Are they borrowing from outside because there is cheaper credit out there? Look, many of these companies, including Uranium One, they declare not making profit, but they are actually shipping, so what’s your comment on that? Then the other one was in terms of listing. You see, Namibians want to buy shares in these big companies, they will look at what business you’re running and study what you make to make investment decisions. They’d love to buy some shares from the Chinese companies. Why can’t they list in our stock change, so that the Namibians can buy their shares?
A: First I have to say, you mentioned that most mines are Chinese companies. That is not a fact. I think very few mines are owned by Chinese companies. That’s the first point. And for the fishing sector, I think it’s also very small investment from Chinese companies. So these are the ones I have to clarify first. As to those very specific issue of why they don’t borrow from here but borrow from elsewhere, that’s a question not easy for me to answer. The companies know where they should borrow. And also for those companies like the Husab Uranium, it’s not 100% owned by the Chinese. Chinese actually only has limited ownership, although they’re the largest shareholder. therefore, where to borrow from should be the decision of the board or directors or something like that. So I think I can only say this much regarding this question. And regarding why they don’t list here, I don’t know. Maybe they will list here or somewhere sometime. That’s just their business secret. Thank you.
Q:My name is Sophie Tendane from the Namibian Newspaper. For the past years, there has been some criticism regarding the environmental impact of certain Chinese investment in Namibia, I just want to find out how does China ensure that its projects in Namibia adhere to the sustainability and environmental security practice in Namibia?
A: The Chinese government always encourages our companies investing in other countries to respect the laws and regulations of the country in terms of everything, and of course environmental protection, that’s always top priority. And it’s the same in China, we have also set very high standard for environment protection, so all the enterprises in China, whether it’s Chinese enterprises or foreign ventures in China, they have to observe the same law. For the Chinese companies here, they should also observe your laws in environmental protection, not only in this area, but also in all the areas.
Q: Just the very last question from me, very very brief, Ambassador, sorry. Is the Embassy closely monitoring the situation around lithium? Of course I suppose that entity is not a state-owned entity and you might have not too much interest as you would because it is not a state-owned entity. Xinfeng, I don’t know if I’m saying correctly. Are you monitoring the situation and what kind of conversations are taking place?
A: I read some newspaper reports and I read all your newspapers. I hope I can read your newspapers every day so that I can be duly informed of everything happening here. Of course, from time to time, I read stories or newspaper reports about the Xinfeng company. I just want to say that, of course, there’s some allegation they’re not respecting the law, something like that. I don’t think I’m in a position to make a judgment on that. But generally speaking, we encourage, and as I said, I want to repeat, we encourage all the Chinese companies to respect the laws of the countries where they invest. I’m saying that, not making any indication on this specific case, so please, there should be no misunderstanding. That’s our general position.
Q: In your previous answers, you mentioned that China provided some grant projects to Namibia, can you list any key grants projects in Namibia?
A: Yes, the new airport 2B project, (Q: only that one?) and also the schools we’re building in Kavango West and Zambezi.
Q: Do they also fall under the soft loans?
A: No, they’re all grant projects. The construction of the schools cost around N$ 270 million, and the 2B section of the new airport road project costs about N$ 1 billion.
Q: Are there any agreements between China and Namibia regarding innovation?
A: Innovation? To my knowledge, no.
Q: There’s none? Isn’t it one thing that the two countries can look into?
A: Usually, if it’s for development assistance, the proposal should first come from the Namibian side, because if you have such actual need and you need cooperation with us. Innovation, of course we can cooperate, no problem. If your side has such need, let us know.
Q: Can you please update us on the social housing projects, the 400 units, 200 in Grootfontein and 200 in Gobabis? And also how far has it been in terms of the implementation of these projects?
A: Social housing projects, as I said, is something your government has always been very careful about. It has taken some time, and we of course hope to see an early starting of the construction. But it has to be decided by both sides and you have your internal procedure.
Q: Who is causing the delay? I mean...
A: I don’t know. I just hope that it will start soon.
Q: I heard the collaboration between China and Namibia media houses, and it’s also worth noting that there’s quite a difference in press freedom, so how harmonious is the cooperation of media between the two countries?
A: Different people and different countries have different understanding on certain issues, for example the press freedom issue. Recently we had a group of media friends from Namibia to visit Jiangsu Province, I think some of you are the members of their group. It’s important for people of different cultures and political systems to have more exchanges with each other, because sometimes if we just look at certain things from the perspective of concepts, that will not necessarily be in conformity with the reality. Although we have differences in our practices or in our concepts, it is still good for the media houses of both countries to have exchanges and I think the more exchanges, the better, because they make us understand each other better. This, however, does not necessarily mean that we’ll eventually become the same people or have the same practice. But I think it’s valuable to learn from different practices in different countries.
Q: Mr. Ambassador, maybe first and foremost, I should put my hands together for you for organizing such an engagement with the media. I think you’ve made history. I don’t remember if there was any ambassador who have called the media houses to come and brief them and also allow them to ask questions like you. Thank you very much for this initiative. I was one of the few people who visited China on a media group, and I think my question, or my contribution, is like what she was trying to ask about innovation. Mine is focused on agriculture and innovation. I know that China is very good when it comes to agriculture, and our government is struggling in terms of really making our green schemes work in the country, and I believe your colleagues in the Embassy are aware, or if you have traveled, especially in Kavango region, Omusati, partly Omusati, and Zambezi, you will know that we have a lot of water that we can use in terms of agricultural projects. And also in the south, we have dams that carry water for a very long time.In terms of innovation, we also have many minerals in this country, some are mined by the Chinese companies. I think it’s a way of creating employment. I think it’ll be an important initiative if the two countries, Namibia and China, could collaborate in improving our agricultural sector by setting up proper agricultural projects that will also automatically employ a lot of Namibian people. In terms of mining, we have raw materials that are mined, and then exported as raw materials. And what the comrade was trying to say, we would also want to create employment in value addition. We want the new i-phone to have writings at the back “manufactured in Namibia” and “assembled in China” or “assembled in Namibia” and “manufactured in China”. Those are the kind of agreements we’re also looking for or hope to see happening. We would not just want the Chinese companies to come here and do more on construction, we also want them to venture in, whether via government or not, which will also create a large number of employment to our people, and in the process, you’re also eradicating poverty as one of the goals we’re aiming for. That’s my submission. Thank you.
A: As a foreign observer here, I do believe agriculture is very important for Namibia, especially for the people living in the rural area. I think improvement of your agricultural sector will also have immediate and direct impact on improving your employment situation. So, I myself attach special importance to cooperation between our two countries in this area of agriculture, and I already had some initial discussions with your relevant government ministry and some of your senior leaders. We’re ready to strengthen cooperation in the area of agriculture. I very much hope to achieve tangible results during my tenure here. My colleagues know I have already been working very hard on that, so I will only redouble my efforts in this area. And also for the value added, I certainly understand that’s very important for Namibia. I, as Chinese ambassador, just want to assure you that I will work hard for the common interests of our two countries. Of course, as the Chinese Ambassador, I must promote and safeguard Chinese interests. But in the meantime, I should also promote Namibian interests. When I do anything, it should be good not only for China but also for Namibia. That means I will work very hard to promote the common interests of our two countries.