On the morning of May 18th Beijing local time, a video conference themed “15th Anniversary: Friendship and Future” was held to commemorate the 15th anniversary of establishing friendship city relationship between Fuzhou and Georgetown. Chen Xilai, Charge d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy to Guyana, Ubraj Narine, Mayor of Georgetown, and Wu Xiaojie, Director of Foreign Affairs Office of Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government presented at the video conference and delivered speeches. Representatives from educational institutions, enterprises and overseas Chinese associations such as Fuzhou Jinshan Middle School and the Marian Academy of Georgetown, Hong Dong Fishery Co., Ltd, and Fujian Association of Guyana were invited to the conference.

At the conference, Ubraj Narine, Mayor of Georgetown, conveyed his gratitude for Fuzhou’s continuous support and assistance for Georgetown’s social and economic development, particularly 30,000 Fuzhou-donated medical masks in May, 2020, providing strong support for Georgetown’s epidemic containment. He reviewed and affirmed the cooperation in education, municipal administration, people-to-people exchanges, economy and trade and other fields since the establishment of friendly relationship between the two cities. He also looked forward to more pragmatic cooperation between the two cities in the future in regard to the impacts generated by the pandemic.

Wu Xiaojie, Director of Foreign Affairs Office of Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government, on behalf of You Mengjun, Mayor of Fuzhou Municipal People’s Government, read the congratulatory letter commemorating the 15th anniversary of establishing friendly relationship between Fuzhou and Georgetown. “I hope that under the guidance and assistance of the Chinese Embassy in Guyana and taking the 15th anniversary as an opportunity, we will consolidate the achievements in the bilateral cooperation, promote in-depth exchanges and coordination between the two cities, and enhance the relations of the two cities through mutual help and learning, so as to jointly foster the friendly and cooperative relations to a new level and bring more benefits to the people of the two cities.”

Chen Xilai, Charge d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy to Guyana, gave a conclusion remark as a special guest of the video conference. He firstly extended his warm congratulations on the 15th anniversary of establishing friendly relationship between the two cities and noted that exchanges between Fuzhou and Georgetown in various fields constituted an important part of the relations between China and Guyana. He expected that the two cities continued to tap the potentials of the Belt and Road cooperation and strengthen the exchanges in more fields with a view to inject impetus into the traditional friendship of the people in China and Guyana.

Yu Yong, Principal of Jinshan Middle School and Marie Harper, Principal of the Marian Academy of Georgetown together reviewed a series of interchange activities carried out by the two schools since the establishment of the friendship city relationship. They both agreed that strengthening interschool exchanges is of great significance to cultivate students with an international vision and boost mutual understanding of the two sides. The two principals stated that further exchanges and cooperation will be planned and enhanced between the two schools.

The deep-processing project of seafood has been completed and put into operation with the investment of 25 million USD from Hong Dong Fishery Co., Ltd. Chen Zhongjie, President of the company, presented that the company will further increase its investment in Guyana, extend its industrial chains and create more job opportunities in Georgetown as well as shoulder more social responsibilities for in-depth bilateral cooperation in the fishery industry.

Chen Ming, President of Fujian Association of Guyana stressed that the association will continue to play its role as a bridge to advance the bilateral economy and trade, give care, help and support to the people in Guyana, and contribute to the friendly relations between Fuzhou and Georgetown.