GUANGZHOU, China, Sept. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Beninese President Patrice Athanase Guillaume Talon paid a state visit to China from August 31 to September 3. “What I expect from the talks between presidents of Benin and China is to speed up the implementation of the ‘Nine Programs’ of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which has also been agreed at the end of the fifth meeting of the China-Benin Mixed Commission on Economic, Trade and Technical Cooperation,” said Élisée Héribert-Label Adjovi, governor of the pan-African magazine Le Label Diplomatique, in a recent interview with GDToday.
The ‘Nine Programs’ of FOCAC include the medical and health program, the poverty reduction and agricultural development program, the trade promotion program, the investment promotion program, the digital innovation program, the green development program, the capacity building program, the cultural and people-to-people exchange program, and the peace and security program.
Adjovi told GDToday that through furthering the cooperation with China, Benin expects to create a Sino-Beninese Investment Fund to attract more Chinese companies to the Glo-Djigbé Industrial Zone, set up a mechanism for co-investment cooperation through joint ventures with Chinese companies, and seek support from the China-Africa Development Fund for the development of Chinese companies in Benin.
“Benin–China relations are based on frank dialogue on bilateral cooperation issues, as well as a shared vision of how the world should move forward. China’s assistance to Benin has never been subject to political conditions,” Adjovi said.
He took the Belt and Road cooperation as an example. “Benin officially joined the Belt and Road Initiative in 2019. This Initiative represents an opportunity to share development experience, particularly in the areas of agriculture, education, digital technology, health, economic development, and infrastructure. It’s a good example of skills and technology transfer, which interests most countries on the African continent.”
“The relations with China have become a model for Benin’s cooperation with other countries, whether in government assistance, agriculture and fisheries, industry, public works, public health, energy, trade, or human resources,” Adjovi said.
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