China was formally recognized on Tuesday as an observer state to the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Andean Community (ANDEC).
The decision was made at the 31st regular meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Andean Community, which was held in Bogota, Colombia.
The Andean Community, a regional economic organization founded in 1969, comprises the South American countries of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
In granting China observer status, member states said that the country had always played an important role in the international community and global governance. They said that China's admission as an observer state to the organization is of great historical significance, and expressed their hope that this would promote bilateral cooperation, advance regional economic integration and sustainable development, and better safeguard the common interests of developing countries.
China becomes observer state for Andean Council of Foreign Ministers
China becomes observer state for Andean Council of Foreign Ministers
African nations aim to push forward industrialization, agricultural transformation and trade growth in the future development, said African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf in an interview with the China Media Group released on Friday.
These three areas are very important focus for the AU to achieve the Agenda 2063, Africa's development blueprint to achieve inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development over a 50-year period, said Youssouf.
"We are working on the transformation of the continent through industrialization. And industrialization has prerequisites. One of them is energy. So we are developing on the continent energy pools everywhere in the regions relying on renewables, developing our own resources of energies. So this is also where we are making progress," he said.
As 80 percent of African people live in rural areas, transforming agriculture is very important, Youssouf said.
"[We'll have] reliance on smart grains, smart irrigation and developing the capacity of the African continent to increase the production. So transformation is very important. If you have a value chain which helps the Africans to get the best value of their product instead of exporting raw materials, raw crops without transformation, tea, coffee, cacao, etc. African countries are really developing their capacity to transform these agricultural projects," he said.
Noting that trade between nations brings wealth, as well as peace and stability, Youssouf said the AU is working to intensify the trade relations within the continent.
"We are working on how best we can increase the intra-Africa trade figures. We're doing it through mechanism and strategies that we have put into place. One of the mechanisms is the African Continental Free Trade Area. This treaty has been signed and implemented since 2017 and then it has mechanisms inside it, [including] the certificate of origin, the compensation and payment mechanism, etc," he said.
African nations aim for industrialization, agricultural transformation, trade growth in future development: AU Commission chief
