Pres Ali’s China visit: Chinese company Huawei to establish ICT college & research centre in Guyana

…possibility of hosting 1st Guyana-Shanghai Expo also discussed

President Dr. Irfaan Ali, whose official visit to China will see him meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, has met with officials of Chinese technology company Huawei, and it has been confirmed that an information and communication technology (ICT) college and research center will be set up in Guyana.
According to President Ali while providing an update on his bilateral China trip, he visited Huawei’s Shanghai Research Centre and met with that company’s senior Vice President Jeff Wang on Wednesday. After a tour of the facility, the two officials discussed a number of areas for cooperation, including the establishment of an ICT college in Guyana.

President Ali, who is accompanied on his trip by representatives of the local Private Sector, also discussed the Chinese company sending a technical team to assess needs of the Private Sector in Guyana.
Huawei is no stranger to Guyana. Back in 2021, President Ali met with an executive team from Huawei at the Office of the President. The visitors had included Huawei’s President for Central America and the Caribbean, Cheng Peng; the Vice President for Latin America, Xue Feng; and CEO for the Caribbean office, Jin Zhefeng.
That same year, Huawei had also donated 1000 internet boxes (500 for indoor use and 500 for outdoor use) that are capable of transferring 4G and 5G networks outdoors at over 300 metres, and just below 100 metres indoors, to more than 100 users at a time.

Shanghai
President Ali has also met with the Mayor of Shanghai, Gong Zheng, during which they discussed potential areas of cooperation. These include the establishment of a Shanghai investment desk in Guyana, as well as the possibility of Guyana hosting a joint-expo with Shanghai.
The President also visited the Shanghai Planning Exhibition Hall, where he was given a guided tour of the urban planning and development exhibits.
Meanwhile, Private Sector officials who are in the President’s delegation are expected to participate in sessions with major Chinese companies.
In addition to Foreign Affairs Minister Hugh Todd and members of the Private Sector, the President’s delegation includes Guyana’s Ambassador to China, Anyin Choo; and Presidential Advisor on Investment and Business Development, Anthony Whyte.

The visit
The visit has its genesis in Guyana’s efforts to deepen its international diplomacy. In 2022, Guyana and China observed 50 years of established diplomatic ties between the two countries. On that occasion, President Ali had noted that Chinese were not only contributors to Guyana’s development, but were also part of the country’s cultural heritage.

“Relations between Guyana and the People’s Republic of China are imperishable. Inseparable ties with China have brought tremendous development gains, have brought our people closer together,” President Ali had said.
Further, the Guyanese leader had outlined that cooperation been the two countries straddled almost all areas of national development, including agriculture, culture, defence cooperation, education, health, information communication technology, infrastructural development, private investment, security, sport, trade, and transportation.
During his ongoing visit, President Ali is expected to have talks to advance cooperation in these and new areas, and would be one of several foreign leaders who will attend the opening ceremony of the 31st summer edition of the FISU World University Games in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, from July 27 to 28.
Chinese President Xi Jinping would attend the opening ceremony, and would also hold a state banquet and host bilateral events for the foreign leaders visiting China.
Among the other foreign leaders who would be present are Indonesia President Joko Widodo, Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani, Burundi President Evariste Ndayishimiye, Georgia Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, and Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.

Guyana’s trade with China
Trade between Guyana and China has been increasing over the past few years, and at the end of 2022, bilateral trade in goods had jumped to US$1.88 billion. This is even as China’s Ambassador to Guyana, Guo Haiyan, has said there is scope for even greater relations between the two countries.
This increase in trade was revealed in May 2023 during the sod-turning ceremony for a $6.6 billion hospital at Bath, West Coast Berbice (WCB). The hospital is being constructed by Chinese company Sinopharm, and is one of six regional hospitals the company would be building throughout Guyana.
“Guyana has become China’s largest trading partner among (Caribbean Community) countries. Investment by Chinese also increased, making contributions to turning Guyana’s economic potential into economic development,” Haiyan had said.
In August 2022, China’s status as a valued partner in Guyana’s development was underscored at a China-Guyana Investment Opportunities Seminar, where it was revealed that trade between the two countries for the first half of last year had totalled US$950 million.
During the seminar, Vice Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Zhang Shaogang, had revealed that of that total figure, Guyana’s exports to China accounted for US$720 million.
The US$950 million is in fact a more than 200 per cent increase in trade between the two countries. (G3)