DPM Jasavić hosts delegation of Guizhou province of China who are visiting Montenegro at invitation of Association of Montenegro-China Friendship Society

Podgorica, Motnenegro (30 September 2016) — Deputy Prime Minister Azra Jasavić hostsed a delegation of the Guizhou province of China who are visiting Montenegro at the invitation of the Association of Montenegro-China Friendship Society.

DPM Jasavić expressed gratitude to the People’s Republic of China for the donations and assistance it has in continuity provided to Montenegro. “The Government is interested in strengthening economic ties with China and for boosting Chinese investment. We particularly wish to open our market for Chinese tourists and to adjust to their needs. As a first area of cooperation I would propose cooperation in health and recovery tourism. With the view to ensuring a successful cooperation, I believe exchange of students is also very important,” DPM Jasavić has said. She commended the Association for their hard work on deepening the relations with China.

Head of delegation, Ms Chen Guode, director of the Office for External Affairs and deputy chairman of the Guizhou Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries vice president, was the first student from China in Montenegro, as part of an international student exchange programme. After 26 years she came to visit Montenegro again and welcomed the changes she was able to witness in all areas. “Our province started the cooperation with Montenegro in 1987, and our mission now is to launch a new era of relations that will be strategic and eventful,” Ms Chen noted. She said that the Association will have many meetings with officials and institutions in order to define areas of future cooperation with the Government. “As a province, we advanced and reached international standards in tourism, especially mountain tourism, agriculture, sustainable development, ecosystem and environmental protection, education, sports, and transport systems management in mountain areas,” Ms Chen has noted. The Guizhou Road and Bridge Corporation is among the best companies in China for projects in transport infrastructure of the kind needed in Montenegro. “This is just one of the areas where the two countries may develop fruitful cooperation of mutual interest,” Ms Jasavić has noted. In addition, the delegation noted readiness of the province to host a number of students and sportspeople, especially in area of football and basketball, as well as to establish exchange in areas of tourism and hotel management.

The delegation representatives expressed their desire to see representatives of Montenegro at the international conferences Guizhou province hosts in July, August, and September, which cover the areas of IT, education, mountain tourism, and sports.

Deputy Prime Minister’s Office