Ambassador Ma Jianchun met with Governor of URR of The Gambia, Fanta Bojang Samateh Manneh, and visited villages around the China-aid Construction Project of Road and Bridges in URR on February 24, 2019,
Ambassador Ma appreciated the Gambian Government’s strong support rendered to the Project. He said that the Project is an important measure to implement the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and is of great significance for enhancing friendship and cooperation between China and The Gambia. The Chinese side will continue to communicate and coordinate closely with the Gambian side to build another flagship project symbolizing friendly cooperation between China and The Gambia.
Ms. Manneh warmly welcomed Ambassador Ma’s visit. She said that the Project is progressing smoothly and clearly shows impressive efficiency, high standards and high quality. She emphasized that the URR Government will spare no efforts to support the implementation of the Project.
After the meeting, governor Manneh accompanied Ambassador Ma to visit the Kanubeh village near the project. They were warmly welcomed by the local villagers. Ambassador Ma delivered a warm speech praising the traditional friendship between the two peoples and wishing the friendship between the two countries to be passed on from generation to generation.
In another development on 26 February 2019, H.E. Ma Jianchun and Hon. Mamadou Tangara signed the “Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture of the Republic of The Gambia on the Facilitation of Group Travel of Chinese Tourists to The Gambia”, which will promote China-Gambia tourism cooperation.
After the signing ceremony, Ambassador Ma was interviewed by GRTS.
He expressed delight with the China-Gambia cooperation in the past three years, and pointed out that the Chinese side would like to further push forward the bilateral cooperation, especially in the areas of investment, trade and tourism.
He said that The Gambia had rich tourism resources, and the number of Chinese tourists traveling abroad had been growing rapidly for many years. China’s overseas tourists will reach 390 million in 2030, bringing great business opportunities for countries with rich tourism resources. The Chinese side would like to encourage more Chinese tourists to come to visit “the smiling coast of Africa”.
