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??Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean,??exchanging agreements??with the Vice Minister in the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Gao Hucheng. Witnessing the signing??are Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, and China’s Premier, Wen Jiabao. (C. Pitt/BGIS)

A number of small-scale development projects this country has on the cards should come on stream even earlier than planned. That is because the People’s Republic of China has just agreed to provide Barbados with a grant of RMB Yuan 20 million, about some Bds$M6.15 to finance them.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Maxine McClean, today initialled an economic and technical cooperation agreement with the Vice Minister in the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Gao Hucheng, in a ceremony in the Great Hall of the People, and witnessed by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, and China’s Premier, Wen Jiabao.

During the ceremony, the governments also signed two other agreements that will assist Barbadians, particularly those in the areas of education and sports. One will see long overdue, remedial work being undertaken at the Wildey Gymnasium; while the other will benefit those persons who are desirous of learning Chinese as a second language.

As far as the former is concerned, the Government of China has agreed to carry out work on the maintenance and repair of the electronic scoreboard and associated works at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium. This will entail replacing the current display screen and equipment in the control room, installation of additional air coolers, repairing the ceiling, and providing the necessary spare parts and training for Barbadian technicians, among other things..

The two governments also signed a Memorandum of Understanding that should enhance educational cooperation between the countries. It calls for the establishment of a Chinese language teaching post at the Cave Hill Campus of the West Indies, initially for two academic years starting in the autumn of this year.

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