Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa on Thursday arrived in Nanjing of east China's Jiangsu Province, the second stop of her visit to China, with the goal of stepping up bilateral cooperation in agriculture and fisheries.
Mata'afa, who arrived in Shanghai on Wednesday before heading to Jiangsu's Taizhou City to begin a nine-day official visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, is being accompanied by a delegation comprising of Samoa's finance minister and other foreign and trade officials.
The delegation toured an agricultural research center in Jiangsu, where the China-Pacific Island Countries Agricultural Cooperation Demonstration Center was unveiled last year.
The research center was jointly established back in May 2020 by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences (JAAS).
Since the 1980s, JAAS has carried out cooperation projects with Samoa, Vanuatu, and other Pacific Island countries on vegetable cultivation and rice breeding projects, achieving remarkable results.
Samoa's economy heavily relies on agriculture and fisheries, and since the establishment of the cooperation center, agricultural collaboration with China has grown significantly.
During Thursday's tour, the Samoan delegation viewed a display showcasing the partnership's key accomplishments, such as the establishment of joint laboratories and technical support programs, aimed at boosting local farmers' productivity. The delegation was then presented with a variety of crops developed by the research center.
Discussions touched on plans to expand collaboration to foster the island country's economic development.
"Agriculture is one of our priority sectors back home for development. And we see similarities in the provinces that we have visited in China. And we are learning a lot from what we have seen, and also sharing the experiences with the officials here and the experts here and taking it back with us to help us develop our agricultural skills," said Lautimuia Uelese Vaai, Samoan Minister of Finance.
Over the past year, the institution has sent multiple delegations to Pacific Island nations, including Samoa, to advance agricultural technology cooperation projects.
"In Samoa, we conducted a survey research on their vegetable cultivation and livestock farming. During our discussion with the prime minister just now, she showed great interest in these areas, which will also be a key focus for our next phase of cooperation," said Yi Zhongyi, president of the academy.
Sampling the fresh produce, delegation members not only experienced the flavors of innovation but also gained fresh inspiration.
"In Samoa, we have lots of tomatoes but not this species, so maybe we should take some [back]," said Luamanuvae Albert Mariner, Samoa's ambassador to China.
"We are not used to this scale of greenhouses, so it's actually quite eye-opening," said Henry Tunupopo, assistant chief executive officer of the Samoan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Samoan PM visits Nanjing to step up agriculture, fisheries industry cooperation
