NASSAU, Bahamas — As part of a Caribbean Youth Delegation, Lamar Matthews, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) National Vice Chairman, and VC Tamar Moss-Ferguson traveled to the Province of Hunan, China, to pay a courtesy visit to His Excellency Li Dianxun, Communist Party of China (CPC) Hunan Provincial Committee Deputy Secretary.
In the Chinese televised diplomatic exchange, The Bahamas was highlighted as being one of the top 10 shipping registries in the world alongside China, having the largest ship registry in the Western region. It was also highlighted that the City of Freeport share friendly sister-city relations with Hunan.
Li shared with the Caribbean Youth Delegation China’s willingness to meet the demand of small scale agricultural machinery and share technological knowledge that will contribute to food safety of the world through the production of it hybrid rice whose technology has already been shared with the Republic of Barbados.
Li stated that through this technology and other Provincial advancements, their ultimate goal is to remove hunger, property and return dignity to the human race.
Centrally located in the People’s Republic of China, Hunan Province is home to over 70 million people with a local economy of 4.8 trillion yuan ranking 8th in China.
Hunan has a 12,000-year history in the rice planting industry and is China’s largest producer of the grain, alongside tobacco and pork. Hunan is also abundant in mineral and biological resources.
Hunan is also a technically innovative province, being home to 139 universities and world renowned for their science and technological strength with the world’s fasted computing machine (Tianhe supercomputer) and hybrid rice production.
Hunan, in keeping with its “opening up” policy, has developed friendship-city and sister city relationships with 105 overseas provinces, states and cities, including the City of Freeport in 2023. Hunan also has economic and trade links with over 200 countries and regions and investments with 188 Fortune Global 500 enterprises.
Under the New Day Administration, the island of Grand Bahama is home of Maritime, Entertainment and Innovation and in keeping with its Blueprint for Change mandate, fostered friendly relations and exchange with the Hunan Province to strengthen our innovation and technological footprint globally.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I absolutely had to share this article posted on Facebook on Friday, December 15, by Lamar Matthews, Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) National Vice Chairman, with readers of my online publication, BAHAMAS CHRONICLE, which has a huge following among the Bahamian diaspora across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as well as in The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean.
