Liberia Government (Monrovia)
6 November 2009
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, on the invitation of the Government of China, is this weekend joining a select number of African Heads of State to participate in the opening session of the fourth Ministerial Conference of a Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), scheduled to take place in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, from November 8-9.
The President, who left the country Friday, will also use the opportunity to hold bilateral discussions with the Prime Minister of China to resolve issues relating to the start-up of operations of Bong Mines by China Union.
The conference will review the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and the Program for China-Africa Cooperation in Economic and Social Development and two documents adopted during the first ministerial meeting of the forum held in Beijing.
The meeting is also aimed to explore new initiatives and measures on Sino-African cooperation in priority areas such as human resources development, agriculture, infrastructure development, investment and trade.
According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian President Johnson Sirleaf, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and other invited African Heads of State or Government are expected to address the opening ceremony.
The forum is expected to adopt the Sharm el-Sheikh Declaration and Sharm el-Sheikh Action Plan, defining new programs of China-Africa cooperation in the next three years.
In October 2000, Africa and China launched the FOCAC as a Platform for collective consultation, dialogue and partnership in the form of South-South cooperation, in order to further strengthen the friendly relations between the two sides, and to jointly meet the challenges of the Millennium Development Goals and economic globalization.
The FOCAC, a collective consultation and dialogue mechanism between China and African countries, is the first of its kind in the history of Sino-African relationship. It is a major and future-oriented move taken by both sides in the context of South-South cooperation to seek common development in the new situation.
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr. Ambulai Johnson, will coordinate the affairs of Government in consultation with the Vice President, Joseph Boakai, during the absence of the country.
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