(On the morning of July 1, during the third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, the People's Government of Huaihua City and Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Malawi signed a memorandum of cooperation in Changsha. Photo by: Pan Yu, omnimedia reporter from Huaihua Daily)
(Huaihua Daily Omnimedia) On the morning of July 1, during the third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, the People's Government of Huaihua City and Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Malawi signed a memorandum of cooperation in Changsha, with an aim to give full play to the advantages of both sides in agricultural resources, strengthen agricultural exchanges and cooperation, and promote the development of the agricultural industry. Deputy Secretary of the Huaihua Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of the People’s Government of Huaihua City Li Chunqiu and Malawian Minister of Agriculture Kawale signed the memorandum on behalf of both sides in the presence of President of Malawi Chakwera. Malawian Foreign Minister Tembo, Ambassador to China H.E. Chintedza and Deputy Mayor of Huaihua City Han Xiaobo also attended the signing ceremony.
Huaihua is the birthplace of hybrid rice. The city has strong technical advantages in agriculture, especially in rice planting and grain processing, with huge market demand. Malawi is an agricultural powerhouse in Africa, with well-developed tobacco, cotton and corn cultivation. The country is surplus in food production. Huaihua and Malawi are highly complementary in agriculture, especially in the development of hybrid rice. The cooperation between the two sides enjoys broad and bright prospects.
According to the agreement, Huaihua and Malawi will establish a long-term cooperation and exchange mechanism. Specifically, Huaihua will take full advantage of its existing vocational colleges and scientific research institutes such as Huaihua Vocational & Technical College and Huaihua Academy of Agricultural Sciences, to step up the training of Malawian agricultural technical personnel; Malawi's Ministry of Agriculture can send 40 students each year to study in Huaihua Vocational & Technical College according to its needs; and the People's Government of Huaihua City can send an expert team to Malawi to provide technical guidance on agricultural cultivation, production and processing. The two sides will jointly establish an agricultural industrial cooperation demonstration park and a platform for bilateral cooperation in industry, trade, logistics and finance. Furthermore, the People's Government of Huaihua City will lead local agricultural companies to set up companies for the collection, processing and selling of agricultural products, help the agricultural industrial cooperation demonstration park extend its market reach and promote the sales of quality agricultural products of Malawi in neighboring countries and China, in a bid to strengthen bilateral trade exchanges.
(Translated by Yu Jie)