China, Uganda sign economic, technical cooperation agreement

KAMPALA, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Uganda and China on Thursday signed an economic and technical cooperation agreement aimed at improving the livelihood of Ugandans.

Matia Kasaija, the Ugandan minister of Finance, signed the document on behalf of Uganda while Zhang Lizhong, the Chinese ambassador to Uganda, signed it on behalf of China.

Kasaija said the deal would be used to implement projects that both countries would agree on to support social and livelihoods transformation.

"Over the years, China has, with no doubt, contributed to Uganda's socioeconomic transformation through cooperation in many fields, which includes financing of infrastructure projects like hydropower dams, roads and industrial parks, livelihood programs," Kasaija said.

He noted that despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, China continues to provide grant funding to Uganda.

Zhang said the agreement is part of efforts announced by China at the Eighth Ministerial Conference on the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Senegal in November. At the meeting, China announced nine cooperation programs aimed at fostering growth in Africa.

"In Uganda, our two sides are working closely to make a lot of key cooperation projects. This agreement is part of efforts to pave way for more projects launched in Uganda," said Ambassador Zhang. "We hope that we can focus more on handy and practical technology cooperation projects with fast and good effects on Ugandan people's livelihood."