Senegal will offer a warm and friendly welcome to President Xi Jinping for his state visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Senegal is an important event that Senegalese are eagerly awaiting and for which Senegal will organize a warm and friendly welcome, said Mamadou Ndiaye, Senegal's ambassador to China , in an exclusive interview with Xinhua

According to the Senegalese diplomat, China is a friendly country and one of Senegal's most important partners. President Xi's state visit will be an opportunity for both countries to strengthen bilateral relations, sign new agreements and look to the future.

According to Ndiaye, bilateral relations are "excellent" , or even copies "and are not only based on a sincere friendship, but also on a" very strong "economic and financial cooperation.

" China is one of the most active partners in Senegal, "said the ambassador, adding that trade between the two countries had increased exponentially.

Welcoming the mechanism of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (ASCF), Ndiaye explained that the next summit of the forum, scheduled for September in Beijing , would be a great moment for Sino-African cooperation, which is "very satisfactory" and "win-win". According to him, many African countries have been able to implement their development policies based on the instrument represented by the forum. "It can be said that it is one of the strongest and most successful partnerships in Africa," said the diplomat

As an African country, Senegal has also benefited a lot from the ASCF. According to Mr. Ndiaye, in the context of the FCSA, Senegal has been able to carry out a number of projects in areas such as infrastructure and information and communication technologies. "Today, China is Senegal's main partner in terms of road and motorway infrastructure construction," Ndiaye said.

Regarding the "Belt and Road" initiative proposed by China, Mr. Ndiaye expressed his interest in his country and other African countries. "This is an initiative that interests not only Senegal, but all of Africa, because it focuses on trade promotion, investment and infrastructure development, and at these three levels we have challenges in Africa, and in particular in Senegal ", he said.

The Ambassador expressed the hope that Senegal will participate in the initiative after the visit of State of President Xi.

President Xi Jinping will conduct state visits to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Senegal, Rwanda and South Africa from July 19 to 24, to attend the 10th BRICS Summit of 25 July 27 in Johannesburg and visit Mauritius during a stopover.