The 8th China-South Asia Expo is underway in Yunnan's Kunming until Sunday. More than 1,000 enterprises from South and Southeast Asia have joined the event. One foreign expo visitor is Ahmed Nazim, the deputy speaker of the People's Majlis of Maldives. He told CGTN's Zheng Songwu during the event that he expects more cooperation with China in economic matters, mega projects and the tourism industry.
ZHENG SONGWU, Kunming, Yunnan Province "Economic and trade cooperation between China and Maldives has shown significant growth. What key areas of opportunity do you see to maximize growth potential between the two sides?"AHMED NAZIM, Deputy Speaker, the People's Majlis, Maldives "I think tourism is the main industry involved. Then there is a lot of scope for cooperation in the tourism sector. Many Maldives and tourist islands have been given these two various businesses. Then they have not been developed. They are stuck because of financial issues. So there's an opportunity for the Chinese investors to explore the possibility of financing, the distressed resorts so that more brands and more resource come into operation. And officially sector is also open on this has pole in line fishing, which is number one product in the market, and then we have canoe factories. Then I'm assuming that the Free trade Agreement also will come into force very soon. It has been signed several years ago, but it hasn't been ratified. So once it is ratified, I think there's opportunity for Maldives to produce goods for the Chinese market."ZHENG SONGWU, Kunming, Yunnan Province "China and Maldives have effectively coordinated on a few mega projects, like the Friendship Bridge. How do these projects benefit the Maldivian people? What do they expect from China's future investment?"AHMED NAZIM, Deputy Speaker, the People's Majlis, Maldives "Yeah, China is one country that has made very tangible difference to the livelihood of the people of Maldives. Even when you land in Maldives as a foreigner, you will notice this friendship bridge and airport reserve that you are landing a major contribution was made by the government of China for the new runway. Therefore, it has its condition. It has given a new life to Malé, the capital city that was totally popular, it's all populated. It has opened up the options opportunities and make life pleasant for the Maldives. So China is one country that has made real difference. So I think Maldives are very grateful and they look forward to more cooperation."ZHENG SONGWU, Kunming, Yunnan Province "Maldives is a popular tourist destination for Chinese travelers, and vice versa. How do you propose to further develop these bilateral tourism markets and expand cooperation?"AHMED NAZIM, Deputy Speaker, the People's Majlis, Maldives "Yeah, China was third last year, the third largest number of areas was from China. But this year China has taken the top spot now. By the end of July, we expected more than hundred twenty five thousand that would have visited, that would be a 12 % increase compared to last year. Also our national airline Maldivian stopped the flights because of the covid. We are hoping that Maldivian can also resume direct flights to Chinese cities so that more tourists can visit Maldives. So there is a lot of scope for sports, fishing, and new activities to be introduced for the Chinese market."
