The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr., has highlighted Liberia-China relationship at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Dakar, Senegal.
Minister Kemayah intoned that the Government of Liberia (GOL), under the leadership of His Excellency President Dr. George Manneh Weah, remains fully committed to the ideals and objectives of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and values its bilateral relationship with the People’s Republic of China. The nation’s chief diplomat stated that the shared relationship continues to yield mutual benefits for the two countries and peoples.
Minister Kemayah said nearly two decades ago, Liberia, as a country and people, codified into law a “One-China Policy”, and this is the fulcrum of its foreign policy objective with the People’s Republic of China which it is unwavering about and remains fully committed to.
“We view our relationship with China within the context of the shared vision and goals supported by our two leaders, H.E. President Xi Jinping and H.E. President Dr. George Manneh Weah, which were highlighted at the Beijing Summit of 2018 by the Chinese leader, for building a shared future through a ‘win-win cooperation’, by promoting the buildup of local capacity through the promotion of industrial capacity, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, green development, capacity building, health care, people to people exchanges, peace and security,” Minister Kemayah said.
The Dean of the Cabinet said Liberia wishes to express its desire and readiness to host the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in the near future, noting that since the inception of FOCAC nearly twenty-one (21) years ago it has continued to successfully serve as a viable platform and an effective mechanism for further coordinating and enhancing the bilateral relationship of African countries with China by fostering the promotion of economic cooperation, promoting South-South Cooperation at the multilateral level, and has been useful in spotlighting greater attention to Africa’s vast potential in the global trade market.
“Nevertheless, on behalf of His Excellency President Dr. Weah and the Government and People of Liberia, we avail ourselves of this opportunity to extend profoundest thanks and appreciation to the People’s Republic of China and all our local, national, development, bilateral and multilateral partners and friends for the support to Liberia, and the respective partnerships in our fight against the deadly scourge of COVID-19.
“The realities of climate change are becoming more severe. Hence, we welcome the commitments made recently at the Climate Change Summit held in Glasgow. Liberia will continue to do its part in helping to mitigate the climate crises. We wish to reaffirm His Excellency President Dr. Weah’s Proposal made at COP26 in Glasgow calling for the establishment of an “African Carbon Credit Trading Mechanism” – ACCTM. He stressed that with the support of Africa and the Partners and Friends of Liberia, and stakeholders of climate change, Liberia is willing and ready to host a conference in the near future to explore the details and structure of His Excellency President Weah’s proposed mechanism – The ACCTM,” Minister Kemayah mentioned.
Minister Kemayah urged the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on the China-Africa Cooperation – FOCAC to adopt the commitments, declarations and outcomes of COP26 held in Glasgow to form an integral part of the Dakar Declaration — an adoption, he believes will serve pivotal in the collective global efforts to save the planet and humanity.
Minister Kemayah used the conference to thank the People’s Republic of China for its effort in the launching of the African Continental Free Trade Area in January 2021, an initiative based in the Republic of Ghana. We join the rest of Africa in appreciating China’s active implementation of the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative.
“We thank China for promoting and supporting enterprises in conducting cooperation through Public Private Partnership and Build- Operate-Transfer (BOT). On behalf of His Excellency President Dr. Weah and the Government and People of Liberia, we extend profound thanks and appreciation to His Excellency President Xi Jinping and the Government and People of the People’s Republic of China for the initiatives for Africa announced by His Excellency President Xi Jinping in his Statement during the opening Ceremony of this 8th Ministerial Conference yesterday, including the One Billion doses of Vaccines, support to the Agriculture Sector amongst others. Despite the special circumstances facing our world today withCOVID-19, disruptions in the global supply chains, economic and political challenges, we believe that the future remains bright for our country, Africa, China, and the global world; together, we can all build a shared future for the mutual benefits of our Countries and Peoples,” Minister Kemayah concluded.