At the Groundbreaking Ceremony for Usino Junction-Yamagi Road Project

(Madang, November 10, 2011)

Hon. James Gau, Governor for Madang Province,

Mr. Bob Wati, Deputy Governor

Mr. Gu Yuxiang, General Manager of MCC

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good morning,

It is my great pleasure to be invited to this auspicious event of the ground-breaking ceremony to officially launch the start of construction work on the Usino Junction-Yamagi Road Project, which is fully funded by the Chinese Government through grant aid assistance.

Mr.Governor, taking this opportunity, I wish to say thank you for your kind invitation which gives me another chance to visit your beautiful province.

On this occasion, I also wish to extend my warm congratulations to the national and provincial governments, the people within this area, and the chinese contractor, for your joints efforts and hard work to make it happen today, which is not an easy job, and extend my best wishes for the smooth implementation of this road in the months to come.

This is my second visit to the Usino area and I am deeply impressed with its natural beauty and abundant resources. However, I was told that, from the perspective of social and economic development and human development index, the Usino-bundi district is greatly lagged behind and has been isolated from the center of development without proper public facilities, such as transport, health and education.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we know, infrastructure is the foundation for the social development and economic take-off of a country. There is an old saying in China, “Wanna be rich? Build roads first!” In 2006, as per the request by the PNG Government, the Chinese Government finally agreed to undertake the construction of this Usino-Yamagi Road project with the total grant aid investment of around 22 million Kina. It is my sincere hope that with the completion of this road, it will provide more conveniences for the local people to walk and drive, transport your garden produces to the market, and have much easier access to the school, health facilities, and further bring more changes and developments to the local people.

As the Chinese Ambassador, I would like to take this opportunity to urge and encourage the chinese contractor to work much harder, work more closely with the provincial government and local people, and build the best quality road for the people surrounded. And also, dear Governor, I wish to seek your continued support to protect the security of our aid team and facilitate the smooth construction work of this road from yourself, the provincial administration and local people, which is of vital importance to the final success of this important project.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my firm observation that Madang is one of the most vibrant and prospective provinces in Papua New Guinea and I have full confidence of the prosperous future of Madang. Meanwhile, Madang province has been a very important player and partner in the mutual-respect and mutual-beneficial cooperations between China and PNG, which hosts the biggest Chinese investment project of Ramu Nickel and Cobalt Project, as well as the biggest soft loan project of Pacific Marine Industrial Zone. It is my belief that, with our joint efforts, the mutual-beneficial cooperation between our two sides will be further expanded and deepened in the areas of infrastructure, education, health, culture, sports, human resources and so on. The people of Madang will definitely reap more tangible benefits from our ongoing and future cooperations.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Both China and Papua New Guinea are developing countries and we are sharing and suffering many similar challenges. The Chinese Government always attaches great importance to the development of the friendly bilateral relations between China and Papua New Guinea. Even though China is still a developing country, China has been providing aid to the best of its ability to Papua New Guinea, which always concentrates on helping PNG build up self-development capacity with the projects mainly focusing on the infrastructures and technical assistance. During the past years, the Chinese Government has done its best to support and assist PNG in achieving its social and economic developments with the implementation of a dozen of aid projects, including the Sir John Guise Stadium, the Wawin National High School, Kandep Agriculture Station and Wheat Technical Cooperation project, the Eastern Highlands Mushroom and Dry Rice project, the Expansion of Students' Dormitory and Teacher's Houses of Vudal University, Lae Fishery Processing and Cold Storage Plant, Wewak Sports Stadium, the upgrade of Papa Lealea Road, Hagen Agriculture Technical Cooperation project, dispatching Chinese Aid Medical Teams and so on. Hundreds of PNG students were granted Chinese Government Scholarships to undertake degree studies in China. Over 400 government officials and technical personnel were invited to China to attend various programs of different sectors for capacity training purpose.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This year 2011 marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic ties between China and PNG. 35 years ago, the PNG Government made a far-sighting decision to establish the diplomatic relations with China. Since then, the bilateral relations have made significant progress on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

The year 2011 also marks the fruitful harvesting year of the mutual beneficial economic and technical cooperation between the two countries. Today, we gather here to witness the groundbreaking of the Usino Junction-Yamagi Road project. Currently, there are also some other social impacted projects between our two Governments well underway, such as the Student dormitories expansion project of University of Goroka, the Phase Ⅱ of Mt.Hagen agriculture technical cooperation project, the Distant Education Network of Community College project and the Integrated Government Information System Network project (IGIS) and the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone project, the International Convention Center project. All these above-mentioned projects are the sweet fruits yielding from the long-term stable and friendly bilateral relationship between China and Papua New Guinea, which also reflects the growing and strengthening vibrant bilateral relations during the past 35 years and also show us the bright future of the relationship between the two countries. We firmly believe that this strong and growing relationship will continue to yield more tangible benefits, which the people of PNG could enjoy directly.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A good momentum has been maintained in the development of our bilateral relations. There were frequent high-level meetings and exchange of visits, growing trade and economic cooperation and fruitful exchange and cooperation in culture, education, health and other fields. Further development of China-PNG friendly relations is in conformity with the common interests of the two peoples.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to take the Ramu Nickel and Cobalt project, with total investment of 1.4 billion USD by MCC, as the good example of bilateral mutual-beneficial cooperation. The Ramu Nickel project is a win-win project and has a significant meaning to the future cooperations between the two countries. It is my firm belief that with the smooth running of Ramu Nickel project, the foreign confidence of investing in PNG will be strengthened and boosted, and the bilateral economic relations between China and Papua New Guinea will be further lifted to a higher level. It is our sincere wish to see the first production soon to put new vigor into the PNG economy. Only if the normal production and operation of Ramu Nickel mine achieved, the government and local people can benefit and receive more from this project.

Papua New Guinea is a beautiful country in the South Pacific blessed with abundant natural resources. Over the past 36 years since independence, the government and people of PNG have made unremitting efforts and achieved great success in upholding state sovereignty and independence, developing national economy and promoting social progress. Ever since my first touch on this land in May 2010, I have already fallen in love with this beautiful country. I have full confidence in the prospects of PNG. As the Chinese Ambassador to PNG, I will do my utmost to fulfill my duties by further strengthening China – PNG political mutual trust and facilitating all-round cooperation between our two countries, promoting understanding and friendship between our two peoples.

Dear Governor, once again, I wish to express my sincere thanks to you for your kind invitation and the people of Madang for your warm hospitality.

Thank you all.