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Governor General Her Excellency Dame Sandra Mason (centre), Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley (left), and Chinese Ambassador to Barbados Yan Xiusheng cut a massive cake in celebration of the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, during a reception which was held at the Hilton Barbados on Wednesday night.

Chinese connection

PRIME Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley has tasked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with ensuring that Barbados can be a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a developmental strategy which interconnects over 65 countries across the globe.

Her comments came on Wednesday night during a reception held at the Hilton Barbados to celebrate the 69th anniversary of the founding
of the People’s Republic of China.

According to Prime Minister Mottley, “We are conscious that in spite of the fact that the Belt and Road Initiative is five years old, that Barbados is yet to reach a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with your government with respect to this initiative.

“And I look forward to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs concluding such a MOU as a matter of urgency, so that there can be clarity of purpose as to what else we can achieve between our two governments with respect to this monumental developmental mission of a global nature.”

The BRI, which was started in 2013, seeks to expand maritime routes and land infrastructure networks connecting China with Asia, Africa and Europe, boosting trade and economic growth.

The programme defines as its five major priorities: policy coordination, facilitating connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and establishing new bonds between people.

The World Bank in March described the BRI as “an ambitious effort to improve regional cooperation and connectivity on a trans-continental scale. The initiative aims to strengthen infrastructure, trade, and investment links between China and some 65 other countries that account collectively for over 30 per cent of global GDP, 62 per cent of population, and 75 per cent of known energy reserves.”

Highlighting the ties that bind Barbados and China which began just over four decades ago, Prime Minister Mottley thanked the Chinese government, represented by Ambassador Yan Xiusheng, for their assistance in several large projects on the island, student exchanges and agricultural programmes in Barbados.

“...We are cognisant that in those areas of activity, you give us assistance in circumstances where our ability to do it on our own were constrained.”
Prime Minister Mottley also reminded the specially invited guests that one of the objectives for Barbados by 2030 is to see each Barbadian child under the age of 18 being able to be bilingual. “We recognise that it is impossible to live in this world today without some having some level of proficiency in Mandarin.”

“By having that simple goal in 2030, it means that we have to start to introduce the teaching at our schools, at primary and secondary level the teaching of Mandarin. I am looking forward to our government working with yours to see how these practical objectives can be achieved.”

“We have already seen a number of Barbadian students studying in China and the establishment of the Confucius Centre here is an indication that we need to be able to expand both the knowledge of language, the knowledge of history and Chinese culture,” she said. (JH)

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