Trinidad and Tobago in talks with China on economic revival

ONGOING efforts to mitigate covid19 and encourage economic revival in Latin America and the Caribbean, were among the key areas of discussions during the Third Community of Latin American and Caribbean (CELAC) -– China Ministerial Forum, held virtually on December 3.

Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne represented TT at the forum that was held to renew cooperation priorities between China and its Latin American and Caribbean partners. The China-CELAC partnership began in 2015.

A statement issued by the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry on December 3 said, "Much of the discussion focused on challenges and solutions related to economic revival and covid19 mitigation."

In March, the Prime Minister had a virtual meting with Chinese President Xi Jinping about obtaining covid19 vaccines and other related matters. TT received 100,000 doses of Sinopharm as a donation from China in May.

On June 12, The Prime Minister said 500,000 doses of Sinopharm were ordered, with 200,000 doses arriving on June 14. Through donation and procurement, TT obtained a total of 1.1 million doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China.

In April, China sent 10,000 covid19 test kits to TT via the Caribbean Public Health Agency (Carpha).

During the meeting, Browne and his Latin American and Caribbean counterparts discussed these and other issues of mutual interest with China. The theme of the forum was "Together overcoming current difficulties and creating opportunities to continue strengthening the China-Latin America and the Caribbean relationship".

The forum adopted the declaration of the Third Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum and the China-CELAC Joint Action Plan (2022-2024).

Among the areas which China, Latin American and Caribbean countries will focus on between 2022 and 2024 as part of this plan are; strengthen dialogue and cooperation against all forms of transnational organised crime in accordance with agreed international conventions and the respective domestic laws of each country; strengthen cooperation regarding the import and export of agriculture products and strengthen exchanges between trade and investment promotion agencies and commercial associations and promote pragmatic cooperation between enterprises.