欢迎大家出席今天的座谈会。Particularly, I express my sincere appreciation to Honorable Chalane Phori for joining us today.
This dialogue is the first of its kind in recent years. The purpose of this event, is to enhance the mutual understanding and cooperation between the relevant authorities of the government of Lesotho and the Chinese business community in Lesotho, so that the partnership between the Chinese community and Basotho people will be further improved, and this partnership will contribute more to Lesotho’s social and economic development.
Before I touch upon this specific issue, please allow me to say a few words about the general picture of China-Lesotho relations. Without bearing a general picture in mind, we may get lost in some details and miss our direction for the road ahead. China-Lesotho relationship is a friendship between two developing countries. This unique nature decides that our cooperation is based on mutual respect, equal treatment, mutual assistance and win-win cooperation. In the past decades, China-Lesotho relations have developed in strides and bounds, showing a strong momentum and resilience. In my view, this relationship has some distinct features.
Firstly, it covers a wide area, including infrastructure, public health, export manufacturing, agriculture, education and culture, communication and broadcasting, capacity building, youth and women development, etc. China is among a very few countries that have such a wide-ranging cooperation with Lesotho.
Secondly, China-Lesotho cooperation is development oriented. In less than 40 years time since its reforms and opening-up to the outside world, China has become the world’s second largest economy from the 10th economy of the world, and 700 million people were lifted out of poverty. Currently, it’s still redoubling its GDP every 10 years. From our own experience, we have realized that reform and opening up to foreign investment is the right choice, and development is the master key to solve all our social and economic problems. For this reason, we attach great importance to economic cooperation with African countries. According reports of World Bank and IMF, Chinese investment in Africa and trade with Africa is the biggest contributor to Africa’s economic development in recent years, Ethiopia, Kenya, Angola and Tanzania are just a few telling examples.
Thirdly, China’s economic cooperation with Africa including Lesotho, doesn’t have political strings attached. We don’t dabble into Lesotho’s internal affairs, we respect and support the government’s whatever efforts in maintaining stability, peace and social harmony. No interference, no blank checks, no conditions attached, these three No are the outstanding features of our cooperation. Looking forward, with China’s continuous development, Lesotho-China cooperation will surely bring more benefits to Lesotho’s development.
In China-Lesotho relations, the Chinese companies and business people in Lesotho also play an important role. Their contributions to local economy, including market creation, service creation, direct and indirect job creation, skills transfer, social charity input, and government income generation, can’t be calculated exactly, only the most intelligent and though economist may give us an answer. Since most of them have been here for quite a number of years, they have become and will continue to be an indispensable component of Lesotho’s society and economy.
The year 2017 marks a new milestone in Lesotho’s development, challenges are daunting, but opportunities are also there. The Chinese government will continue to support Lesotho’s development and bring more benefits to Lesotho government and the Basotho. Meanwhile, I also wish and believe the Chinese business community will make more contribution to Lesotho’s development. In this process, I am confident that the government of Lesotho and the Chinese business community will continue to work hand in hand to create a better investment environment for this mountain kingdom.
各位中资机构负责人，各位侨领，大使馆举办今天这个对话会的目的，是为大家与莱政府主管部门直接沟通、消除误解、创建一个增进相互了解的平台。大家对莱索托经济社会发展的贡献是有目共睹、毋庸置疑的，莱政府和社会普遍认可和肯定。这里向大家表示敬意。
另一方面，大家不远万里来到这里，还是希望能够长期、安全、稳定地发展事业。要做到这一点，需要与东道主搞好关系，包括了解当地法律法规，了解当地人的真实想法，与当地社会结成命运的共同体，让当地人看到并且相信，中国侨民到这里为当地带来了更多的就业、税收和消费。做到这一切，前提还是了解当地的法律法规和有关政策。
所以，我希望今天的对话会能够对大家的事业发展提供一些帮助。也希望借助今天的对话会，使莱政府主管官员能够了解大家的关切，在今后政策执行方面充分考虑大家的实际情况。这次莱主管部门的部长能同大家集体见面和交流，机会难得，希望大家利用好这个机会。
最后，我想强调，保护我们机构和侨民的合法权益是使馆长期的重要职责，愿作侨民在莱遵规合法诚信经营的坚强后盾。今后大家有何意见和困难，欢迎与我们保持随时联系。