FOUR BILATERAL agreements were signed on Monday between the Governments of Jamaica and the People's Republic of China in a move designed to strengthen ties between the two countries.
The agreements were signed on behalf of Jamaica by Dr. the Hon. Paul Robertson, Minister of Development. The signing ceremony took place at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China where Prime Minister P.J. Patterson is on an official visit.
The agreements cover the areas of bauxite, education, and technical cooperation. A co-operation agreement between the Jamaica Bauxite Institute, Jamaica Bauxite Mining Limited and China Minmetals Corporation will involve Minmetals undertaking a detailed study to participate in establishing a bauxite mining and alumina refinery facility in Jamaica with a projected 1.4 million tonnes per annum of alumina capacity.
SITE VISITS
Minmetals has already conducted preliminary due diligence and site visits in the country under this Agreement.
In the area of education, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to undertake the development of professional skills in various fields of education, technical assistance for Chinese Language training and to facilitate cooperation between institutions of higher learning in both countries.
Under the five-year renewable agreement, China will send teaching staff to conduct Chinese language lessons at the University of the West Indies. Both countries will explore the teaching of Chinese Language courses in Jamaica's secondary schools.
Additionally, the Chinese Government has given the Jamaican Government ten million yuan, or approximately US$1.25m in grant aid to be used for the implementation of economic and technical projects under an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement. A portion of this grant money will finance a feasibility study under the Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation.
The signing ceremony took place immediately after bilateral talks were held between Prime Minister Patterson and Premier Wen Jiabao of the People's Republic of China.
