President
Muhammadu Buhari has directed that technical committees be immediately
established to finalize discussions on new joint Nigeria-China rail,
power, manufacturing, agricultural and solid mineral projects.
A statement by the Senior Special
Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu on
Tuesday quoted the President as giving the directive in Beijing after
talks between his delegation and high-ranking Chinese government
officials led by President Xi Jinping.
The technical committees are to conclude
their assignments before the end of next month. The talks are part of
the President’s weeklong trip to China
Buhari had at the talks welcomed China’s
readiness to assist Nigeria in her bid to rapidly industrialize and
join the world’s major economies.
President Jinping agreed that Nigeria’s
chosen path of development through economic diversification was the best
way to go. To assist Nigeria to achieve this, China promised to fully
support the country through infrastructural development and capacity
building.
China also expressed an interest in
setting up major projects in Nigeria such as refineries, power plants,
mining companies, textile manufacturing and food processing industries
as soon as the enabling environment is provided by the Federal
Government.
“In response to Buhari’s desire to make
Nigeria self-sufficient in food production, President Jinping offered 15
million U.S. dollars agricultural assistance to Nigeria for the
establishment of 50 Agricultural Demonstration Farms across the country.
China and Nigeria also agreed to
strengthen military and civil service exchanges as part of a larger
capacity-building engagement.
In line with this, China offered to
raise its scholarship awards to Nigerian students from about 100 to 700
annually. In addition, 1,000 other Nigerians are to be given vocational
and technical training by China annually.
President Jinping applauded the war
against corruption being waged by President Buhari. The Chinese leader
assured President Buhari that Nigeria will always have a special place
in the affairs of the Peoples Republic of China.
After the talks, Buhari and Jinping
witnessed the signing of several agreements and memorandums of
understanding by Nigeria and China.
The agreements include a “Framework
Agreement Between the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria and the National Development and Reform
Commission of the Peoples Republic of China.”
Others were a “Memorandum of
Understanding on Aviation Cooperation between the Ministry of
Transportation (Aviation) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the
Ministry of Commerce of the Peoples Republic of China” and a “Memorandum
of Understanding Between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the
Government of the Peoples Republic of China on Scientific and
Technological Cooperation”.
A “Mandate Letter Between the Industrial
and Commercial Bank of China and the Central Bank of Nigeria on
Renminbi (RMB) Transactions was also signed.
Credit: ngrguardian
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