KINGSTON, Jamaica - As Caribbean governments seek new investors, the Chinese are urging them to capitalise on a business development and investment promotion trip to China coming up this fall. The offer, which was made at the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now Forum last Wednesday in New York comes days after China's president, Xi Jinping offered concessionary loans to nine Caribbean countries totalling US$3 billion.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Trinidad and Tobago is already beginning to put some $833 million of the US$3 billion in concessional loans from China to use. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced yesterday this country will be able to immediately access $833 million of these funds to accelerate the development of Business/Commercial and Industrial Parks throughout Trinidad and Tobago. “We will be building seven such parks on 592.1 acres of land representing an investment of $833 million. The leasable space on the estates would be 355.7 acres.
HONG KONG — Explosions and fire tore through parts of a poultry plant in northeast China on Monday, killing at least 119 people, in one of the country’s worst factory accidents in recent years. Residents near the factory, the Baoyuanfeng Poultry Plant, in Jilin Province heard blasts at about 6 a.m. Parts of the plant were engulfed in flames but it was unclear whether the fire broke out before or after the explosions, Chinese television reported. The Jilin Province government said on its microblog news site that 119 people were confirmed dead.
Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged in Port of Spain Sunday to work with Suriname and Barbados to expand his country's cooperation with the two Caribbean nations. Xi, in a state visit to Trinidad and Tobago, made the remarks during separate meetings with Surinamese President Desi Bouterse and Barbadian Prime Minister Freundel Stuart. In talks with Bouterse, Xi said Suriname hosts the most overseas Chinese in the Caribbean, and the Chinese culture has become an important part of Suriname's pluralistic culture.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Government will explore energy market expansion with the Chinese delegation which arrives in T&T tomorrow, Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine has said.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – China’s President Xi Jingping arrives in Trinidad on Friday for a three-day visit during which he will meet with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders. The visit follows that of the United States Vice President Joe Biden earlier this week and according to a Chinese Embassy statement it is to “further increase political trust and consolidate friendship and cooperation with the entire region”.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - The discussion about increasing and sustaining economic growth in Jamaica must recognise that tourism will be the engine of economic growth in both the short and medium terms.
In the context of the downturn in the world economy, the tourism sector has done well, as is evident in the steady annual increase in the number of visitor arrivals, resulting in much needed foreign exchange, taxes and employment.
BEIJING — The devastating earthquake that struck southwest China over the weekend has drawn a flood of donations from across the country.
But in contrast to the pattern after a major quake in the same region five years ago, those eager to bolster relief efforts are looking to donate to private charity organizations, not to official groups that now have a reputation for corruption.
China is continuing a massive rescue operation in Sichuan province, deploying thousands of workers, after a powerful earthquake on Saturday. Rescue workers are using dynamite and heavy equipment to get through roads blocked by landslides to reach remote areas, reports say. But reaching these areas has been a struggle, with bad weather and powerful aftershocks contributing to delays.
Last month, China’s new president, Xi Jinping, chose Moscow for his first foreign visit. He and President Vladimir Putin announced a number of agreements and then traveled to Durban, South Africa, for the fifth BRICS summit, where they joined with the leaders of India, Brazil and South Africa to announce the creation of a new development bank that could challenge the dominance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The five leaders’ speeches referred to a shifting world order, and Xi said “the potential of BRICS development is infinite.”