Africa welcomes the China-Africa Cooperation Forum because it is another step by China to help the continent out of its very poverty-stricken state, Mauritian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation Anil Kumarsingh Gayan has said.  

Gayan made the remarks in Port Louis recently in an exclusive interview with Xinhua prior to the Second Ministerial Meeting of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, to be held in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia, on Dec. 15-16.

"The China-Africa Cooperation Forum is another framework where we can look at the larger picture for Africa and we will certainly look at the ways where we can get this forum to become a shining example of what China can do for Africa," said Gayan, scheduled to lead the Mauritian delegation to the meeting.

The 55-year-old minister, who studied law at the London School of Economics from 1969 to 1972 and earned his master's degree at the University of London in 1973 specializing in international law and the law of the sea, said the greatest impediment to the development of Africa is poverty and HIV/AIDS, explaining that HIV/AIDS is causing the biggest damage and devastating the working population in African countries.

Young people, including teachers, nurses, and doctors, are dying of HIV/AIDS, he said, lamenting that these are the people whom Africa needs to sustain the economy.

Official statistics indicate that Africa is home to about 12 percent of the world's population but some 70 percent of the world's HIV/AIDS sufferers.

Gayan said lack of infrastructure, such as roads, airports and ports, is another major handicap to the development of the African continent.

"These are what we believe China will be able to assist," the minister said.

Meanwhile, Africans have a lot of brainstorming to do, he said, adding that they need to know what are their failures and mistakes and how to resolve them.

"We wish China will come to the forum not only with projects, but also with ideas, ideas to have Africa change the way it has been doing things," he said. "It has to be an exchange of ideas."

He hopes China can come to the meeting with technical assistance as well to help Africa in agriculture and all those areas that China has made tremendous progress.

He said China, a very strong friend of Africa, had always been on the side of African countries in their struggle for liberation.

"Now that Africa is free, but also now that Africa happens to be the poorest continent in the world, it is in these conditions that we welcome the China-Africa forum because that will be one step in that China is helping Africa come out of its very poverty-stricken state," Gayan said.

The minister also said his country wants to get China to be part of its development process.

"We hope that Chinese companies will be able to use Mauritius as a gateway into Africa," he said.

In his eyes, Mauritians have very special relations with China as there are more than 30,000 Mauritians who are of Chinese origin, representing 2.9 percent of the population in the Indian Ocean island country.

"If you move around Mauritius, you will see a big Chinese presence," he said, taking the Supreme Court, the country's highest court, where three out of the nine judges are of Chinese origin, and his secretary of Chinese descent, for instance.

Gayan said the foreign policy initiatives of China find an echo in his country's foreign policy objectives.

"Because of its history, China finds it's very easy to work with developing countries. And we have found that whenever we asked China for any assistance, China was always prepared to listen and to do whatever it could do," he said.

Gayan, who has been to China three times, was impressed by the immense progress China has made.

"We want to further strengthen the economic ties between Mauritius and China," he said.

The China-Africa Cooperation Forum, known as the Ministerial Conference Beijing 2000, was initiated in Beijing in October 2000.

The Addis Ababa meeting will attract the ministers in charge of foreign affairs and trade from 47 members of the organization.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will be present at the opening ceremony and deliver a speech, and 10 leaders from African countries, as well as representatives from international and regional organizations, will also attend.

The main task of the meeting is to review the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the program for China-Africa cooperation in economic and social development, two documents passed during the first ministerial meeting.

The participants will also discuss cooperation in key fields such as agriculture and human resources, and the prospects for development and exchanges in the future. An action plan on the specific steps for cooperation between China and Africa over the next three years is expected to be passed during the meeting.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2003)