JONATHAN ARRIVES BEIJING, SIGNS AGREEMENTS WITH PRESIDENT XI JINPING TODAY PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan arrived in Beijing on Tuesday at the start of his five-day state visit to China during which he is expected to conclude and sign several new agreements to boost bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and China in areas such as defence, finance, trade, agriculture and communications. He was received along with the First Lady, Dame Patience at the Capital Airport in Beijing by China’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Li Yucheng and Nigeria’s Ambassador to China, Alhaji Aminu Wali. According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, the President would be formally welcomed to China today by President Xi Jinping, at a grand ceremony scheduled to hold at the Great Hall of the People. It said the two leaders and their official delegations would thereafter hold bilateral talks at the end of which new agreements and memoranda of understanding would be signed. Meanwhile, as Chinese and Nigerian government officials put pen to paper on several loan and MOU Agreements in Beijing, Chinese construction giant, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, (CCECC) has pledged to deliver the four new international airport terminals it will be constructing in Nigeria in a record time of 20 months. President of CCECC, Yuan Li, who disclosed this on Tuesday when a high-powered delegation of Nigerian government officials paid a courtesy/facility inspection visit at the corporate headquarters of the company in Beijing, said the quality of the work to be done at the airports would be of the highest international standard comparable to similar projects executed by the company in other parts of the world. Responding, Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah said she was eagerly looking forward to the signing of the agreement today and the completion of the projects in the next 18-20 months, adding that the desire to have the best for Nigerian airports informed the decision to work with a reputable, world class construction firm like CCECC. Li said the company has finalised plans to incorporate a new firm, CCECC Industries Nigeria Ltd, to prosecute its investment agenda in Nigeria and help develop the industrial sub-sector of the economy, adding that going forward, the company intends to increase the number of indigenous Nigerian employees while reducing the expatriate quota to the barest minimum. To accomplish this, he said the company has mapped out a scheme to grant scholarships to, and train Nigerian students in technical areas in Chinese universities to make up for the manpower needs in critical areas like railway engineering and management, amongst others. He said CCECC also intends to set up a Joint Venture (JV) with the Nigerian government for the operation and maintenance of the railways, and would soon commence construction work for CCECC plazas in Abuja and Lagos. Source: Tribune
Posted on: Wed, 10 Jul 2013 07:41:25 +0000
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