Sino-Africa co-op on top of Africa's development agenda
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Deepening of the Sino-Africa cooperation is one of the top priorities in Africa as the continent pursues efforts to fast track its economic development, a top Egyptian official on a visit in Kampala said on Wednesday.
Mona Omar, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for African Affairs told reporters that the forthcoming ministerial conference of the Sino-Africa Forum scheduled to convene in Egypt on Nov. 8 will be another opportunity to strengthen the collaboration.
"They are a very friendly country with all of us. We prepared a list of the African priorities that have to be looked at by our Chinese counterpart, they also prepared their own part," she said.
She said Africa has listed food security and infrastructure as the top two priorities that will be present to the Chinese delegation when the talks open at Sharm El-Sheikh, a beach resort on the coast of Red Sea.
Many African countries face an acute shortage of food, leaving millions of people on the verge of starvation especially in Eastern Africa where a persistent drought over the recent years has ravaged gardens.
A sharp power crisis and the poor transport infrastructure have also slowed down the continent's economic growth, according to experts.
"We are expecting to have a very successful meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh," Omar said after delivering an invitation letter for Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni from his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak to attend the two-day meeting.
The meeting will convene after three years since the November 2006 Sino-Africa Summit in Beijing, China where Chinese President Hu Jintao announced a package of Eight Measure to assist Africa on socio-economic development.
It is expected that China is to introduce new measures at the Sharm El-Sheikh meeting to further boost ties with the continent which lags behind other continents in economic development.
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