Against a background of a nearly two-thirds increase in
bilateral trade in the first seven months of this year, the Costa
Rican government is looking for an impending state visit to China
to further boost trade and relations.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua here on Wednesday, Costa
Rican Ambassador to China, Antonio Burgues, said his government
hopes to strengthen cooperation in various areas such as politics,
economy and culture to benefit the people of the two countries.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao announced
Tuesday that President Oscar Arias Sanchez will pay a state visit
to China from October 22 to 28 at the invitation of Chinese
President Hu Jintao.
Burgues said the two sides will sign agreements on investment,
trade, and tourism during Oscar Arias Sanchez's visit.
More than 60 Costa Rican businessmen will also visit China and
an exhibition for export commodities from Costa Rica will be held
in Beijing, he said.
Currently, China and Costa Rica are negotiating on setting up a
Confucius School in Costa Rica, he added.
The 54 years old Burgues, an economist, was appointed as Costa
Rican Ambassador to China when Costa Rica formally established
diplomatic relations on June 1 this year.
Burgues was the Economy, Industry and Trade Minister in Arias'
prior government (1986-1990) and has been president of Costa Rica's
Chamber of Exporters for the last 12 years. Nine years ago, Burgues
visited China when he was the president of Costa Rica's Chamber of
Exporters.
Burgues said: "Costa Rica is only a small country in Central
America with 4.2 million people. Though the geographic distance and
different national reality, both are developing countries and face
the challenge of developing their economy and improving the living
standards of their people."
Costa Rica's government identifies with the Chinese's
government's concepts of "people first" and "promote social
progress through economic development," he said, stressing that the
Costa Rican government hopes to strengthen cooperation in various
areas and share its experience with China in environmental
protection, development of clean energy and promotion of social
welfare.
More than 60,000 Chinese descendants live in Costa Rica and
their industry has played an important role in Costa Rica's
economic and social development, he said.
Burgues cited the example of Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, the first
professional astronaut of Chinese origin at NASA, saying Chang-Diaz
was born in San Jose, capital of Costa Rica, and Costa Ricans take
pride in him.
China and Costa Rica posted US$1.56 billion of bilateral trade
in the first seven months of this year, up 61.3 percent
year-on-year.
The Chinese side predicted that trade for the whole of 2007 will
reach US$3 billion, up from US$2.16 billion reported last year.
Currently, Costa Rica is the eighth largest trade partner of
China in Latin America and the Caribbean, and China is the second
largest trade partner of Costa Rica in the world.
(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2007)
