Costa Rica and China will sign nine deals on cooperation in
investment, trade and tourism during Costa Rican President Oscar
Arias Sanchez's state visit this week, said the country's
ambassador to China ahead of the visit.
"China and Costa Rica should practically think about the future
of our bilateral relationship, rather than focusing on the past,"
said Ambassador Antonio Burgues, who was busy preparing for the
arrival of his president, who will be in China from today until
Sunday.
"The visit can boost cooperation in the fields of trade,
information and technology, agriculture, and culture and
education," said Burgues, adding that more than 60 Costa Rican
businessmen will also visit China and an exhibition of Costa Rica
commodities will be held in Beijing.
The 54-year-old ambassador took up his post last month, two
months after the embassy opened. Costa Rica established diplomatic
relations with the People's Republic of China earlier this year
after it cut 63-year-long "diplomatic ties" with Taiwan.
Arias is the first president to pay a state visit to China since
the conclusion of the 17th National Congress of Communist Party of
China (CPC), at which the CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao made a
speech strongly condemning secessionist activities in Taiwan.
As a newly elected non-permanent member of the UN Security
Council, Costa Rica will always insist on the one-China policy and
recognize the People's Republic of China, said Burgues.
"We hope to share more opinions and cooperate more with China in
the international arena," said the ambassador, citing the example
of the Costa Rican government and people's warm welcome for his
Chinese counterpart when the Chinese embassy to Costa Rica
opened.
Several of Costa Rica's neighbors in Central America still
maintain ties with Taiwan.
"I can't see supporters of Taiwan in our country any more. China
is really friendly to the whole of Latin America," Burgues
said.
He preferred to see Costa Rica as one of the Latin American
countries and one of the 170-plus countries that have diplomatic
relations with China.
"Asia is a fast-developing region," Burgues said. Speaking from
his experience as the Economy, Industry and Trade Minister in
Arias' previous government (1986-90) and as president of Costa
Rica's Chamber of Exporters for the past 12 years, he said that
China's rapid development offers great opportunities.
Costa Rica is now the eighth-largest trading partner of China in
Latin America and the Caribbean, and China is Costa Rica's
second-largest trade partner. Sino-Costa Rican bilateral trade
reached US$1.08 billion in 2006 and US$1.56 billion in the first
seven months of this year.
"Costa Rica is only a small country in Central America with 4.2
million people. Despite the distance and different national
realities, both are developing countries and face the challenge of
developing their economy and improving the living standards of
their people," the ambassador said.
He revealed that, besides Beijing, Arias would also visit
Shanghai to learn more about the Chinese economy, saying he also
planned to research the Chinese market, especially in the eastern
metropolises.
Recalling his first visit to China as the president of Costa
Rica's Chamber of Exporters nine years ago, he said: "What
impressed me most was not the booming skyscrapers but the Chinese
people's passion to better their lives."
When he and his family spend time in Beijing's parks at
weekends, "I can see ordinary Chinese people flying kites and
walking dogs. They are all friendly to us despite the language
obstacle. I really think people in Beijing live as well as people
in any developed countries."
Burgues said the Chinese people's better life was largely a
result of the Chinese government's concept of putting people first,
and praised Hu Jintao's views on how to narrow the gap between the
urban and rural areas, as well as his emphasis on education and
environmental protection at the 17th National Congress of Communist
Party of China. He paid attention to these areas because "the two
countries have similar problems in these fields."
"Personally, I think that Hu Jintao's speech is very concrete
and provides practical methods in the face of challenges," Burgues
said. He and his colleagues kept a close eye on media reports about
the CPC congress.
In his opinion, a healthy and harmonious China can be one of the
engines for global development.
He also stressed the Costa Rican government's willingness to
cooperate and share its experiences with China in the areas of
environmental protection, the development of clean energy and the
promotion of social welfare.
To promote mutual understanding, Burgues said China and Costa
Rica are negotiating on setting up a Confucius Institute in Costa
Rica. "Costa Ricans are very curious about China's 5,000-year
history," he said. "Costa Rica is also fresh to the Chinese, which
can help both countries' tourism."
In fact, China and Costa Rica have conducted technical exchanges
since the 1980s. To the surprise of many people in China, "about 85
percent of the chips used in China are made in Costa Rica," the
ambassador said.
He also said that 60,000 overseas Chinese living in Costa Rica
have played an important role in Costa Rica's economic and social
development. He cited the example of Franklin R. Chang-Diaz, NASA's
first professional astronaut of Chinese origin, saying Costa Ricans
were proud of the astronaut, who was born in San Jose, the capital
of Costa Rica.
To learn more about China and the Chinese, Burgues is working
hard to study Chinese and mobilizing other Costa Rican embassy
staff to have weekly Chinese lessons.
"I think my efforts can help me to get the two peoples closer
economically and culturally. Costa Rican diplomats and our Chinese
counterparts are making efforts together to promote further
concrete development," Burgues said.
(China Daily October 22, 2007)
