By Xiao Wu, video by Xingchen Yue, iChongqing news.

Chongqing - Mr. Luis Diego Monsalve has been in China for three months as Ambassador of Colombia to China.  From June 17 to 19, he took his first visit to Chongqing to establish a closer connection and good relationship between Colombia and Chongqing.

On June 19, Mr. Monsalve took an interview with iChongqing at the Foreign Affairs Office of Chongqing Municipal People's Government to share his thoughts on the communication and cooperation between Chongqing and Colombia.

During the visit, Mr. Monsalve met over 60 local company representatives and visited local companies of high-tech, new energy, and medical technology. "Chongqing is a great metropolis with huge influence," he said. "Chongqing has a full range of industries with developed technology. The company representatives I met here are very interested in cooperation with Colombia. Many of them have invested or been doing business in Colombia," Mr. Monsalve said.

Chongqing is a gateway city in West and Central China with over 30 million population. Colombia also enjoys a strategic location by locating in the middle of Latin America, with over 50 million people. "Colombia is an open gate for Chongqing to open the market to Latin America. Chongqing is also a place for Colombia to start opening the market to the western part of China. There's great potential for us to cooperate," Mr. Monsalve continued, "currently we export coffee, flowers, banana to Chongqing, and will export avocados. I hope more Chongqing people could enjoy high-quality agricultural products from Colombia."

Chongqing has been invited as the gust city of the Expo China to be held in Colombia in the coming November, which will showcase the intelligent manufacturing, new technology, safety and security, automobile, motorcycle and parts, machinery from China. "I hope this Expo will help people and companies in Colombia get to know more about Chongqing," Mr. Monsalve told iChongqing. He said that he would also encourage people and companies from Colombia to attend the Smart China Expo in Chongqing. Mr. Monsalve said, "I hope we can carry out more person to person visit between Chongqing and Colombia, and we are seeking to establish brother-ship with Chongqing to deepen our communication and cooperation."

Mr. Monsalve also indicated that he would encourage more communication and cooperation with Chongqing in fields such as culture and education. "I hope more artists from Colombia can bring our music and dance to Chongqing, and artists from Chongqing can visit Colombia. Also, I hope there is more and more exchange of students from both sides," he said.

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