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Chinese Ambassador to Liberia Lin Songtian has spoken highly of business prospects in the country when he addressed the Liberian Business Association (LIBA) in Monrovia at the weekend.

 

Lin said although Liberians are poor and facing a lot of challenges ahead of the post-war national reconstruction, he had always been confident that the west African country has "great potentialities for economic development and prospects."

 

He told the LIBA that comprehensive and sustainable development can be achieved by developing the country's natural resources to benefit the social economic needs of the people.

 

"You have abundant natural resources comparing to the relatively small population of about three million people," Lin said. "You also have favorable climate and rich soil and arable land which are attractive and good for the growing of rubber, oil-palm, coffee and rice."

 

Liberia has an "open and all-inclusive culture and flexible monetary and financial system, which are good for commercial cooperation and foreign investment," he said

 

Although Lin acknowledged that Liberia is emerging out of 14 years of civil war for which urgent foreign aid is needed, he said a review of the country's recent history has shown that the search for donor and international aid tend to be a "begging practice" and cautioned that such trends should "not be a fundamental solution to the social and economic development of the country."

 

"You can expect but cannot rely on the foreign aid forever," Lin said. "Liberia needs to create preferential environment to attract local and international investors to develop the natural resources of the country's long-term sustainable and comprehensive growth."

 

"This approach is crucial and more practical for the post-war national reconstruction of Liberia and should be the major one to serve the purpose of sustainable development," he said.

 

Lin addressed the first quarterly dinner of the LIBA on the theme: The Role of the People's Republic of China in the Post-war Reconstruction of Liberia.

 

The LIBA is a group of diverse indigenous Liberian businessmen and women whose objective is to promote and advocate on behalf of Liberia-owned businesses.

 

President of the LIBA Samuel Mitchell said Liberian businesses had been marginalized, indicating that foreigners had for many decades controlled the Liberian economy.

 

Mitchell said, "the Liberian people want to control of their own economy." He therefore called for preference to be given indigenous Liberian businesses and called on the Chinese to assist Liberians hardness their resources and for goods from China to be made in Liberia.

 

In this direction, Lin assured that the Chinese government "will render preferential policy and financial support to encourage Chinese enterprises to conduct mutually beneficial cooperation in Liberia" and at the same time facilitate Liberian businesses to have access to Chinese markets.

 

"I hope to see more and more manufacturing and processing industries and commercial farms emerging in Liberia," Lin said.

 

In addition to the special preferential tariff treatment for Liberian-made products into Chinese markets, Lin said China has offered to write off Liberia's over-due debts as of the end of 2004 and render fresh concession loans to Liberia.

 

Liberia is burdened by an external debt of US$3.5 billion and as such, fresh concession and commercial loans have been difficult to come due to poor productive capacity of the country.

 

However, Liberia has in commercial quantities iron ore, rubber, gold and diamond with some hope of finding oil and gas.

 

Fourteen years of civil war which ended in 2003 had reduced the country from a promising nation to one of the least developed countries in the world.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2006)