By Xinyi Li, EDITOR

On May 16, the opening ceremony of the Uruguay Art Exhibition, the cultural activity of the 2nd Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT), kicked off at the TESTBED 2 in Chongqing. After the ceremony, Fernando Lugris, Uruguay Ambassador to China said that Uruguay would set up its consulate-general in Chongqing to enhance and sublimate the China-Uruguay cooperation.

He said that Uruguay was the first country of the Southern Common Market to sign a memorandum of understanding with China on co-building the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It pays attention to the construction of a community of shared future for mankind as well as aiming to jointly promote political mutual trust, economic integration and people-to-people exchanges, create new opportunities for development, and complement each other’s advantages for mutual benefit and win-win results.

Uruguay Ambassador to China, Fernando Lugris

“Chongqing, a centrally-controlled municipality, is full of vitality in economic development,” added Fernando Lugris. The city is located in an important strategic pillar of the Western Development Strategy and the junction integrating the BRI with the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Therefore, the establishment of a consulate-general in Chongqing is conducive to Uruguay’s participation in the development opportunities. He hopes that the consulate-general can become a bridge of communication between Uruguay and Central and Western China to facilitate the in-depth cooperation in fields like economy and trade, culture, and education.

According to the introduction from Fernando Lugris, the establishment of the consulate-general in Chongqing has been approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, and he believed that the city would welcome him again soon for the unveiling ceremony.

Chongqing makes a good impression on Fernando Lugris for its development vitality, favorable natural environment, and the diligence and hospitality of the local people. In a word, he likes it!

The artwork on the Uruguay Art Exhibition

In terms of cooperation, there have been factories invested by the Lifan Group in Uruguay and the group aims to invest in all over South America by taking Uruguay as an important base. Fernando Lugris looks forward to more Chongqing enterprises in Uruguay by taking advantage of the BRI.

After making an analysis of the specific cooperation directions, Fernando Lugris hoped that Chinese enterprises could enter Uruguay to promote the development of its pork industry, because Uruguay develops well in the beef and mutton industries at present, while China boasts strong pork consumption power.

In addition, Uruguay, with the highest per capita output value of exported software in Latin America and the Caribbean, also looks forward to the cooperation with Chinese enterprises in the field of information technology.

Source: Chongqing Morning News