Accompanied by H.E. Lu Kun, Chinese Ambassador to Dominica, H.E. Charles Savarin, President of Dominica and Mrs Savarin visited the China-Dominica Modern Agriculture Center on June 7, 2019.
President Savarin and Mrs Savarin visited the nursery greenhouses and fruit and vegetable bases, inquired about the growth cycle and planting techniques, picked sweet melons and tasted the fresh fruits. During the visit, they met with local students who came to the Center to participate in agricultural training. They also presented the school with seedlings donated by the Agriculture Center.
After the visit, the Chinese agriculture team made a work report, and then President Savarin and Ambassador Lu delivered speeches respectively.
President Savarin said that the agricultural cooperation between China and Dominica enjoyed a long history, benefitting local people, including farmers. In 2017, hurricane Maria brought devastating blows and the Agriculture Center was also destroyed. The Chinese agricultural team returned in time and started the recovery and reconstruction process. Over the past year, they have achieved remarkable results. The President expressed deep appreciation to the Chinese government and the Chinese Embassy for their strong support. He said that there will be four new hotels in the next few years, and there will be large demand for fruits and vegetables in the market and the Agriculture Center will play an important role. He expects that the agricultural cooperation between the two countries will continue to deepen.
Ambassador Lu said that he was very pleased to invite the President and his wife to visit the Agriculture Center again and grateful to their support and attention to the agricultural cooperation between China and Dominica. After the hurricane Maria, Chinese agricultural team overcame difficulties and returned in time, rebuilding greenhouses and nursery rooms, and providing local farmers with a lot of help and made positive contributions to the development of China-Dominica relations. Lu said that the Agriculture Center was an important symbol of China-Dominica friendship. In the future, the Center will provide more varieties of fruits and vegetables, carry out more agricultural technology training, bring more benefit to the loacl people. Lu also expects that friendship between the two countries will continue to deepen.