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FOCAC provides opportunity to strengthen China-Tunisia cooperation

Source: Xinhua | 2021-11-28

TUNIS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be an opportunity to strengthen cooperation between China and African countries, particularly Tunisia, Tunisian politicians and experts have said.

Scheduled for Nov. 29-30, the two-day forum will be held in Senegal's capital of Dakar.

The event is an opportunity for both China and Africa to promote mutually beneficial cooperation, Mohsen Nabti, a member of the Tunisian Popular Current Party and its official spokesperson, told Xinhua on Friday.

"China does not have a colonial past in Africa. It does not interfere in the internal policies of the countries and, better still, does not seek to uproot the peoples of their cultures," said Nabti, noting these factors inspire confidence to build a partnership with China.

African countries, not least Tunisia, should seize the opportunity to "establish an equitable and beneficial partnership that allows them to bet on technology and build productive economies, in addition to benefit from Chinese capacities and potentials in the field of infrastructure as well as its know-how in agriculture and rural development," Nabti said.

China supports Africa in making infrastructure development a priority for economic revitalization, said a white paper released by the Chinese government on Friday.

Titled "China and Africa in the New Era: A Partnership of Equals," the white paper said during the period from 2016 to 2020, the total investment in infrastructure projects in Africa reached almost 200 billion U.S. dollars.

"Sino-African cooperation has reached unprecedented levels," said Mondher Thabet, a Tunisian political analyst, adding that it will be essential for African countries to cooperate with China on the basis of mutual benefits.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by China remains one of the most relevant global initiatives that will benefit Africa and the Arab region, Thabet added.

According to the white paper, China-Africa cooperation under the BRI has shown resilience and vitality since the outbreak of COVID-19, as more than 1,100 China-Africa joint programs have continued and nearly 100,000 Chinese technicians and workers have remained at their posts during the pandemic.

For his part, Najmeddine Akari, chief editor of the Tunisian newspaper Al-Anwar, said Tunisia "can benefit from Chinese investments, industry and technology by launching common projects based on Tunisian skills and Chinese expertise."

"Tunisia is not a big market for China, but it can be a platform for production and export to the main markets in Africa and Europe, given its strategic geographical location, in addition to the high qualification of its skills in various fields," Akari noted.

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