Friday 14 November
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
President Arias
Hails Ties With China
Arrival of Chinese
President Sunday Will Be
Chaotic For Traffic
Protesters Impede
Arrival Of Cruise Ship
Hotel Tax
Out, Airfare Tax In
Rich Collection of Costa
Rican Flora Hits The
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President Arias Hails
Ties With China
The visit is of great
"importance" as the two
countries have great
potentials to further
enhance their bilateral
ties, Costa Rican
president, Oscar Arias
said in a national wide
television address.
Forging diplomatic ties
with China was a
decision of "political
realism," Aria said.
China offered us$20
million dollars in aid
for more than 3,000
victims of the flooding
disaster in Costa Rica
in 2007, the year when
the two countries
established diplomatic
ties, Arias said.
From then on, China has
impressed Costa Rica
with its generosity,
including a new national
stadium it offered to
built in San Jose.
The establishment of
diplomatic ties between
the two countries has
ushered in a flourish in
their bilateral
economic, cultural,
technological and
commercial exchanges.
In October that year,
Arias toured China, the
first ever official
visit by a Costa Rican
president, and signed
many important
cooperation agreements.
Led by rapid growth in
trade with China, Costa
Rica's trade with Asia
registered a strong
surge in the following
years.
According to the Chinese
Commerce Ministry, Costa
Rica's export to Asia
reached us$1.5 billion
dollars in the first
seven months of 2008,
with Costa Rica's export
to China reaching us$1.2
billion dollars.
By contrast, its export
to Asia was only us$30.1
million dollars in 2000.
Costa Rican Minister of
Foreign Trade Marco
Vinicio Ruiz added that
this year has been very
important for trade
between both countries,
and China has become the
second largest trading
partner of Costa Rica,
second only to the
United States.
During the past 18
months, said Ruiz, "we
have opened a commercial
office in Beijing, we
have developed a
promotion program of the
Costa Rican and Chinese
businessmen" and the two
sides will continue
seeking ways to
diversify their
cooperation, he added.
The two countries also
saw a lot of exchanges
in education and China
has offered scholarships
for Costa Rican students
to study in China.
In addition, China has
planned to open a
Confucius Institute at
the University of Costa
Rica to offer Costa
Rican people an easy
access to the Chinese
culture.
In the financial sector,
various agreements have
been signed between the
Costa Rican banks and
many prestigious Chinese
monetary entities, such
as the Bank of China.
The trip is part of a
five-nation trip by Hu
to the United States,
Costa Rica, Cuba, Peru
and Greece that will
include attendance at
the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation
(APEC) summit in Lima
and the G20 meeting on
the global economy in
Washington this weekend.
Central America has
traditionally favoured
Taiwan, but Costa Rica
switched recognition to
China in June 2007,
after 63 years of ties
with Taipei. Only 23
countries recognize
Taiwan, and half of them
are in Latin America and
the Caribbean.
The bilateral agenda
between China and Costa
Rica includes talks
towards a free-trade
agreement.
China has granted Costa
Rica millions of dollars
in financial
cooperation, buying
bonds from the Central
American country and
promising to build a
modern football stadium
in San Jose.
Taiwan has said that it
accepts its allies
recognizing China if
they also maintain
diplomatic ties with
Taipei. But China, which
sees Taiwan as its
breakaway province,
insists that foreign
countries must first cut
ties with Taiwan before
they can open diplomatic
relations with Beijing. |
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