Trade Minister Vasant Bharath hosted a visiting Chinese delegation, led by Shan Zhong, International Trade Representative (Ministerial Level) and Vice Minister of Commerce.The meeting was held on Tuesday at the Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre and included others senior officials of China's Ministry of Commerce and of the Chinese Embassy in T&T.
Bharath welcomed the delegation saying that "as one of this country's leading trade and investment partners, it is a pleasure to host and facilitate another delegation from the People's Republic of China".He outlined the key sectors identified for aggressive development in the Government's diversification thrust, and invited the Vice Minister to encourage participation of a Chinese delegation at the Trade and Investment Convention (TIC) in June
Vice Minister Zhong noted that with US$450 million in trade between China and T&T, there is keen interest to "strengthen our technical co-operation as well".Items discussed included bilateral investment promotion, project proposals for investment, opportunities for bilateral technical cooperation, and invitations to participate in each other's trade shows and investment fora.
The meeting concluded with a commitment from both ministers to actively pursue an agenda to strengthen ties between the two nations.Members of the T&T delegation included representatives from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; eTeck; invesTT; and exporTT.Bharath also met on Tuesday with Edgar Garcia Miranda, Ambassador of Costa Rica, at the Ministry's Head Office.
The minister spoke extensively about Government's focus on diversifying the economy away from oil and gas.He said there are many opportunities for Costa Rica to invest in T&T, particularly in the agro-processing industry, an area in which Costa Rica has been quite successful. Accompanying the ambassador at the meeting was Tatiana Burgos, Counsellor, Embassy of Costa Rica and Sheri Joseph, Export Promotion Agency of Costa Rica.