Your Excellency Prof. Bingu wa Mutharika, President of the Republic of Malawi and Your Excellency Madame Callista Mutharika, the First Lady,

Honorable Ken Lipenga, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Wildlife,

Honorable Ministers and Deputy Ministers Present,

Mr. Xia Fang, Vice President of the Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation,

Seniors Government Officials and Leaders of the Business Circle,

Dear Press Friends,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to attend the opening ceremony of the SOGECOA Golden Peacock Hotel. Before I start, let me thank H.E. President Mutharika and Her Excellency the First Lady Madame Callista Mutharika for sparing your precious time to officially open this Golden Peacock hotel.

H.E.President Mutharika Cut the Ribbon at the Opening Ceremony

In Chinese culture, the peacock is an auspicious bird and is a symbol of happiness, fortune and good luck. I am very glad to see that today a beautiful Golden Peacock has flew from the faraway oriental China and landed on Malawi, the Warm Heart of Africa. I believe it will bring happiness and prosperity to the Malawian people.

     

Charge d'Affairs Mr. Zhou Haihong Giving a Speech                               H.E President Mutharika Giving a Speech

At this exciting and joyful moment, I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation (AFECC), the investor of the Hotel project, on the opening of the Golden Peacock Hotel. At the same time, I, on behalf of the Government and people of the People's Republic of China, also would like to extend my warmest congratulations to H.E. President Mutharika, the Malawian Government and people for this hotel, because Malawi has one more international standard hotel from now on.

I also wish to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to the Malawian Government and people, for the valuable support you have rendered to the Chinese investor during the construction and preparation stage of this hotel.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation, the investor of this hotel, is well known in Malawi as the contractor of the New Parliament Building. At this stage, the company is undertaking the construction of the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), which is expected to be completed in the first half of 2013. They are also planning to invest 30 million US dollars to build an international shopping center in Lilongwe, the capital city.

Besides the excellent record in the fields of construction and investment, the AFECC has also earned its good reputation through actively fulfilling its social responsibility in Malawi. In Oct. 2010, the AFECC took out 1.5 million US dollars and funded the China-Malawi Friendship and Brightness Trip. The trip, which was initiated and officially inaugurated by H.E. President Mutharika, saved more than 300 cataract patients from blindness.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,

This beautiful hotel is a fruit of the friendly cooperation between our two peoples. For my knowledge, more than 3000 Malawian workers have taken part in the construction of this project since its ground breaking. Thanks to the joint efforts and hard work of Malawian and Chinese workers, it just took 10 months to complete the construction of this Hotel project. Both Malawian and Chinese people have created another construction miracle in Malawi after the Parliament Building. This hotel project has shown the hardworking spirit of the Malawian people.

Currently, the hotel has employed more than 100 local staff, including over 10 in the midlevel management team. I believe, with the expanding of the hotel's business in the future, more and more Malawian people will find their jobs here.

This magnificent hotel will boost the tourism industry of Malawi. Malawi has the beautiful lake, well-protected national parks and numerous different kinds of wild animals. The potential of the tourism industry is more than huge. However, lacking of international standard hotel facilities has negatively affected the further development of the tourism industry in Malawi.

The Golden Peacock hotel, with a total investment volume of 15 million US dollars, is built in accordance with international four-star standard, and is equipped with modern accommodation and conference facilities. The opening of this hotel will effectively enhance the accommodation and receiving capacity of the Capital City to foreign tourists. I am sure that this hotel will make contribution to the development of the tourism industry of Malawi.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malawi in 2007, the friendly cooperation between our two countries has witnessed rapid development, especially in the fields of trade and investment.

Last year, the two-way trade between China and Malawi exceeded 100 million US dollars, which is more than doubled compared to the figure of 2007. The products of Malawi such as tobacco, cotton and coffee have already entered into the Chinese market. In order to encourage Malawi's export to China, China has unilaterally granted a zero-tariff treatment to Malawian products. This preferential treatment will finally cover 95% of the products originated from Malawi by the end of 2012.

In the investment filed, China has become one of the largest source countries of investment to Malawi. A lot of Chinese companies have established their business in Malawi, covering the sectors of communication, mining, agro-processing, construction and etc. According to incomplete statistics, last year, the total Chinese investment to Malawi reached 59 million US dollars. The Chinese investment has created thousands of jobs for local people and has made great contributions to the economic development of Malawi.

Your Excellency, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Malawi has a good reputation in the world as the Warm Heart of Africa. With its abundant natural resources and hardworking people, Malawi has great potential and a bright future in achieving self-sustainable development. And we are happy to see that under the leadership of H.E. President Mutharika, Malawi has already made great progress in developing itself.

Both China and Malawi belong to developing countries, and are facing the arduous task of national development. The cooperation between our two countries is based on the principle of equality and mutual benefit, and is motivated by our joint endeavor to achieve development.

As a development partner of Malawi, in the days to come, the Chinese Government will continue to actively encourage Chinese companies with good reputation like the Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Corporation to invest in Malawi. The Chinese government and people will continue to assist the Malawian Government and people to realize national development within our capacity in the future.

Thank you for your attention.