China Chamber of Commerce mobilises participants for investment conference in Africa’s Great Lakes

Huang Xia addressing a group of African diplomats and Chinese private investors in Beijing during a roadshow organized for the Great Lakes Investment and Trade Conference in Africa’s Great Lakes region

18 Dec 2019

China Chamber of Commerce mobilises participants for investment conference in Africa’s Great Lakes

Beijing, 18 December 2019 - At least 140 participants from the private sector have attended an outreach event in Beijing organised by the Office of the United Nations Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region to promote and raise awareness about the forthcoming investment and trade conference in Rwanda on 18-20 March 2020.

The China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC) mobilised the participants who attended the event mid-December along with Ambassadors of Rwanda and the Republic of Congo, the Charge d’affaires of Tanzania and the Counsellors of the Embassies of the DRC and Zambia.

Welcoming the participants, CCOIC Secretary General Yu Jianlong recounted the progress attained and the results achieved in China-Africa cooperation as well as CCOIC’s efforts to connect Chinese business community with foreign partners.

He said the CCOIC would support the Office of the Special Envoy and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) to promote participation and partnership during the Great Lakes Investment and Trade Conference (GLITC).

Special Envoy Huang Xia briefed the participants on the general situation in the region, including positive developments and the collaboration between the UN and the ICGLR to work with member states in the region to achieve peace and development.

He said challenges such as the Ebola epidemic and conflict in the eastern DRC were confined to certain areas and did not represent the whole picture of the region.

While encouraging the Chinese private sector to seize business opportunities and invest in the Great Lakes region, Mr. Xia said the region’s heads of State had reached a consensus that shared prosperity and economic growth were key to conflict prevention and the consolidation of peace and stability and that they were determined to find solutions through cooperation and integration.

The Ambassador of Rwanda, James Kimonyo, reaffirmed his Government’s commitment to ensure that the conference in Kigali is successfully held. He invited investors to take advantage of business opportunities and improved investment conditions in the region.

Ambassador Kimonyo also invited Chinese investors to explore the natural beauty of Rwanda and tourist sites.