Development and poverty issues should top the agenda of the
forthcoming Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation
scheduled from November 4 to 5, Zambia's Foreign Minister Mundia
Sikatana said in Lusaka on Monday.
"The summit should focus on development and the most important
issue that should be attended to is poverty on this continent,"
Sikatana told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.
Sikatana is one of the members of the Zambian delegation led by
President Levy Mwanawasa who will together with his cabinet members
and other government officials start off on Tuesday for the
summit.
The foreign minister said the summit was a "very important forum
" which was intended to establish working relations between China
and African countries.
"China today is a world power that is capable of assisting
Africa in its development programs," Sikatana said, adding that he
was very excited about the meeting, which is the third and also the
largest one since its inauguration which will see over 40 African
leaders convene and discuss issues of common concern.
Sikatana said Zambia as well as other African countries can
benefit from China's experience in development and its advanced
technology in the fight against poverty.
"Chinese people are hardworking, and the fight against poverty
here can be achieved if we learn to work hard," he said.
"If we adopt technologies from China, it could improve our
production," he added.
Being a former agriculture minister, Sikatana said Zambia could
benefit a lot if the country's agriculture is fully developed.
However, it was facing problems of lack of technologies as well as
environmental destruction, he added.
"We will do well if we can adopt Chinese technology that
produces charcoal from agricultural waste. I hope we can gain a lot
out of that," the minister said.
The minister said the country also need China to help it tap the
potential of water resources. With its numerous rivers, Zambia's
water resources account for 25 percent of all those in southern
Africa. The country's hydro-electric power is considered to be a
regional asset that is under-utilized for being lack of
technologies and irrigation system.
"Technology is what we need and what we want to bring back to
Zambia from China. We need knowledge to improve our yield and to
improve our capacity of producing for export," Sikatana said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2006)