H.E Yoweri K Museveni together with the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Uganda, H.E Zhang Lizhong, welcomed China’s new development model in Uganda on Saturday the 19th 0f February 2022.
The meeting took place at State House Entebbe and was graced by a delegation from the Chinese embassy in Uganda, a team from the ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance.
Issues of mutual interest such as poverty eradication and technology transfer were discussed during the meeting and President Museveni emphasized how Uganda is focused on guiding its people on how to eradicate poverty at the household level to achieve socio-economic transformation.
“China would like to engage in a number of projects other than infrastructure and I particularly like their proposed projects on; Poverty Eradication, Agricultural Development, Digital Innovation, Capacity Building; Cultural and People- to- People exchange, Peace, and Security,” he said.
Ambassador Lizhong informed the President that during the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Senegal, in November last year, China announced nine programs to strengthen China-Africa Cooperation in different sectors. The President, therefore, advised the Ministry of Finance to work hand in hand with the Chinese to identify areas where they can be of help.
According to H.E Lizhong, China enjoys strong ties with the people and Government of Uganda which he said is evident through the cooperation in various sectors including Trade, Industrial, Infrastructure Development, and the close collaboration the two countries have in regional and international affairs.
“With your guidance and that of President Xi Jinping, our relationship has moved forward strongly. As a matter of fact, our political mutual trust has been enhanced and our relationship is at its best time in history,” Lizhong said.
He went ahead to talk about the cooperation model focusing on more handy and practical technological projects with remarkable effects on the livelihoods of the people of Uganda.
President Museveni assured the delegation that companies like automobile manufacturers were already working with China to shift technology to the next level, as well as the country developing its own vaccines. He however welcomed the Chinese to participate in improving people’s livelihoods in Uganda in any way possible.
This meeting came at a time when the two countries are celebrating the 60 years’ Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Over the past 60 years, the China- Uganda economic and trade relations have made significant progress.
