29 Sierra Leoneans have successfully completed three-week training organized by the Anhui Institute of International Business in eastern China's Anhui province. The program on "Urban Construction Management for Sierra Leone 2017" started on Tuesday July 18 and ended on August 8 in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui province. The participants came from various Sierra Leone government agencies, who were capacitated with knowledge on achieving urban beautification that will lead to proper urban planning and management.

They received lectures on areas like urban planning, the implementation of urban construction, smart city construction, public works construction, underground space and pipe work construction, urban landscaping construction, etc.

They also had the opportunity to visit some well-planned and developed cities and other places of interest.

They gained knowledge about China’s development and experience in urban construction and management through the teaching model of theory with practice. In addition, the organizers used the opportunity to develop cooperative relationship in urban construction and management between China and other developing countries.

Speakers for both the opening and closing sessions include Long Mei, Director of International Exchange; Ms Zhang Yuyun, leader from the Bureau of Commerce of Anhui Province (AIIB); and Wang Zhenhuai, Secretary of Committee for Discipline Inspection.

Participants were appreciative of the fact that many skills have been gained and hope to implement them in their home country.

Abu Bakarr Daramy, Public Relations Officer of Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Agriculture

“This is a program that will not just help us as participants but our country Sierra Leone and will make the world become a beautiful place for all,” says Abu Bakarr Sidique Daramy, Public Relations Officer of Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food Security, and added that urban management, which is in line with urban growth should be done responsibly with environmental considerations that will support a healthy atmospheric condition.

About Anhui Institute of International Business

Anhui Institute of International Business (AIIB) is a full-time higher vocational college, attached to the Bureau of Commerce of Anhui province. AIIB was established in 1980, and after more than 30 years of development, it has become an important base for business training in Anhui province. In March 2012, AIIB became one of the organizers for foreign-aid training approved by the National Foreign Aid Division of the Ministry of Commerce. AIIB is located in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui, where there are some famous places of interests such as the monument of Bao Zheng and the former residence of Li Hongzhang. There are also some famous tourist attractions such as Huangshan Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain and Tianzhu Mountain in the province .

Anhui Construction Engineering Group, the sponsor of the seminar, was founded in 1952. It is a province-owned large-scale construction enterprise, and it owns special-class certificate of housing construction general contracting, A-class certificate of construction industry (constructional engineering) design, and the qualifications of contracting projects abroad, labor management rights and the enterprise of implementing foreign aid project sets constructions, approved by Ministry of Commerce. Besides, the enterprise also owns A-class certificates of engineering consultation, construction observation and construction products quality inspection, as well as more than 130 qualifications of real estate development, mechanical and electrical equipment installation, architectural decoration and so on, among which 70 qualifications are of A-class. In 2013, the enterprise was selected “ENR Top 225 International Contractor” for the fifth consecutive years, and also won several domestic awards for consecutive years. In international market, the projects contracted by the enterprise spread all over more than 40 countries and regions in five continents, and a large numbers of projects received praises from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, as well as the high evaluations of foreign clients.

Note: Abu Bakarr Kargbo is a Senior Staff Writer of Standard Times Newspaper in Sierra Leone and an intern at People’s Daily Online.