Ties between China and Uruguay are strengthening day by day during the official visit of the President of the Republic, Tabaré Vázquez, ministers, businessmen and other officials to the Asian giant. The Uruguayan president announced on Sunday that he will include Mandarin language learning programmes in the Ceibal plan, according to the Presidency's website.
Vázquez proposed to Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa and other authorities to use the Ceibal platform, which reaches schoolchildren and high schools, to teach Mandarin Chinese. The Ceibal Plan now has a platform for teaching English.
Installing a platform for teaching Mandarin Chinese "would be relatively easy; if they provide teachers, the platform that Ceibal is using is already there", said Álvaro Lamé, president of the Uruguayan Chamber of Information Technology (CUTI), one of the businessmen in the official delegation. It is estimated that one billion people speak this language in the world.
The president also informed that Uruguay will release visas for Chinese students who wish to settle in the country and learn about football. "There was a lot of talk about football. The Chinese are really admired by Uruguayan football. They have high expectations for what it can contribute to the evolution of their football," Lamé told El Observador. Former footballer Álvaro "Chino" Recoba travelled to take part in a beach football match between the Uruguayan and Chinese teams, in which Vázquez was also present.
On the other hand, the mayor of Rocha, Aníbal Pereyra, and the governor of Guandog, Zhu Xiaodan, signed a twinning agreement between that department and the Asian province, an act in which Vázquez and the secretary of the Communist Party of Guangdong, Hu Chunhua, also participated.
"The documents established are the commitment of the governments (provinces and departments) of China and Uruguay to follow up on issues of common interest. In the case of Rocha, it is to link up with provinces that contain a population of over 140 million inhabitants," reported the website of the Rocha Municipality.
"These agreements are valued as positive because, in addition to allowing the department to seek contacts that allow Rocha to show the benefits of possible investments, they are established in line with the policy put forward by President Tabaré Vázquez in terms of strengthening contacts with the Asian giant," the statement adds. Vázquez will promote the installation of a Guangzhou consulate in Montevideo.
"This province in southeast China, located on the banks of the Pearl River, covers an area of 186,000 square kilometres and has a population of more than 75 million inhabitants," the Presidency stresses. In this context, Vázquez informed that Uruguay wants to participate in the 21st century maritime silk route, but this link should be cultural and peaceful, rather than a trade route.
Source: The Observer
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