Your Excellency Dr. Nangolo Mbumba, President of the Republic of Namibia,
Honorable Ministers and Senior Officials of the Namibian Government,
All our Namibian friends, My fellow Chinese,
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning.
Today is a historic day for China-Namibia economic cooperation, as we are so honored to have His Excellency President Mbumba with us on this very important occasion.
As Chinese Ambassador, I am deeply encouraged by President Mbumba’s decision to attend the FOCAC summit at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. This is not only a valuable support for the success of the summit, but also another milestone in the development of China-Namibia relations.
This is indeed also a great news for the business communities of our two countries. That’s why we have such a big turn-out for this Namibia-China High-Level Business Forum.
Your Excellency President Mbumba, we are all excited and grateful that Your Excellency is here in China again. Ladies and Gentlemen, let's give His Excellency President Mbumba a big applause of welcome.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are all enthusiastic supporters for deepening China-Namibia economic cooperation. We are enthusiastic, because we believe that our two economies are highly complementary, China-Namibia economic cooperation is mutually beneficial, and the potential of this cooperation is enormous.
China-Namibia bilateral trade reached 1.3 billion US dollars last year and China now accounts for about 30% of the total foreign direct investment in Namibia. These two figures are impressive, but they only represent the beginning of an even more exciting story of our future cooperation.
We are definitely going to witness a big jump in our bilateral trade and investment in the next 5 to 10 years, as Namibia is destined for an economic takeoff in the foreseeable future.
Despite a small population of 3 million, Namibia ranks as the 34th largest country in the world in terms of land size. It’s a country with long-term political stability, a sound legal system and a strong determination for national development. In addition to the endowment of rich mineral resources, Namibia is on the way to becoming the fourth largest oil producer in Africa, thanks to the intensified exploratory efforts in recent years. As Namibia is accelerating its industrialization program, it will provide boundless opportunities for foreign investors with a magnitude we have not seen before.
I know a lot of Chinese companies have high expectations on Namibian future economic development and they have strong interest of investing in Namibia, not only in the areas of mineral resources and energy, but also in agriculture and others. For the Chinese companies already present in Namibia, many of them have the plan of expanding their investment.
At such an exciting time of our bilateral economic cooperation, the Chinese Embassy in Namibia will do its best to facilitate the business communities of our two countries. By working together, we are sure to elevate our bilateral cooperation to a new high.
In conclusion, let me congratulate the success of this forum and wish His Excellency President Mbumba and his prestigious delegation a very happy time in China. Thank you.