 |
Colombian President Meets Chinese Trade Minister
Economic and trade cooperation between Colombia and China has great potential, visiting Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng and Colombian President Andres Pastrana agreed.
Shi arrived in Bogota Wednesday, December 13, to attend the 7th meeting of the China-Colombia Mixed Committee on Trade and Economic Cooperation.
The two leaders agreed that by joint efforts from both governments and business circles within the two countries, it most likely will bring the annual amount of bilateral trade to US$300 million, doubling the current volume.
Shi listed the products and the mutually-beneficial economic areas in which the two nations may cooperate.
He said that Colombia has taken China as a strategic trade partner and China has done the same with Colombia.
Pastrana lauded the current development of bilateral relations as being historically the best period for cooperation, and achieved remarkable results in the field of politics, economics and trade.
Regarding the development of foreign trade as an important channel to activate the national economy, Colombia is pinning great hopes on the Chinese market, he said.
Pastrana expressed his appreciation for the glamorous achievements China has made in developing its economy and his hope that he could soon visit China.
Later on in the day, Shi also met with Colombian Foreign Minister Guillermo Fernandez and exchanged views on bilateral ties and economic and trade cooperation.
His entourage includes top executives of several leading Chinese enterprises who expect to exchange views with their Colombian counterparts on trade, investment, and other ways of cooperation.
Both Expect Closer Economic CooperationThe Colombian government has taken China as one of its main potential trade partners, Colombian Foreign Minister Martha Lucia Ramirez said.
Opening the 7th session of an inter-governmental economic cooperation commission, Ramirez said although the trade volume between China and Colombia was small, the Colombian government was ready to promote trade with China, especially in the areas of
agricultural machinery, telecommunication equipment and computers.
The Chinese delegation proposed to double bilateral trade volume in the next two or three years through cooperation in the industrial, scientific and technological fields.
In This Section
|