Venezuela, China Create $6 Billion Fund to Build Public Works
by Theresa Bradley
Venezuela and China will create a $6 billion joint fund to finance infrastructure development in the South American country, building on agreements made during President Hugo Chavez's trip to Beijing last August.
China will contribute $4 billion to the fund, which will finance housing, telecommunications and highway projects, and help build a heavy cargo railway across Venezuela, the Venezuelan government said in a statement released today.
``This alliance comes to benefit the construction of a multipolar world,'' Venezuelan foreign minister Nicolas Maduro said in the release. Officials are expected to sign a final agreement establishing the fund tonight.
The fund is the latest in a series of accords between China and Venezuela, as President Hugo Chavez moves to decrease the country's reliance on the U.S., which now buys about two-thirds of Venezuelan oil exports.
Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, has boosted sales to China to 154,000 barrels a day, up from 14,000 barrels a day in 2004. China has meanwhile announced plans to pour about $10 billion into Venezuelan energy and infrastructure sectors, as it looks to feed its own soaring domestic energy demand, Chinese state media said.
``Risen Again''
China has ``risen again,'' setting an example for Venezuela and developing countries around the world, Chavez said after representatives from the two countries signed six economic cooperation accords last week in Caracas.
``China is demonstrating that you don't have to be an empire to be grand,'' Chavez said.
The Venezuelan infrastructure fund will include cooperation in health, science and technology sectors between the two countries, Maduro said.
China Development Bank president Chen Yuan is in Caracas today to sign the accord. The bank has financed most of China's largest infrastructure projects, granting 1.6 trillion yuan in loans ($203 billion) to fund more than 4,000 projects since it was founded in 1994, the bank's website states.
China also plans to aid Venezuelan agricultural development, assisting in seed improvement and crop transport, and could help establish an agricultural science academy in Venezuela, Venezuelan state media said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Theresa Bradley in Caracas at tbradley7@bloomberg.net .
Venezuela and China will create a $6 billion joint fund to finance infrastructure development in the South American country, building on agreements made during President Hugo Chavez's trip to Beijing last August.
China will contribute $4 billion to the fund, which will finance housing, telecommunications and highway projects, and help build a heavy cargo railway across Venezuela, the Venezuelan government said in a statement released today.
``This alliance comes to benefit the construction of a multipolar world,'' Venezuelan foreign minister Nicolas Maduro said in the release. Officials are expected to sign a final agreement establishing the fund tonight.
The fund is the latest in a series of accords between China and Venezuela, as President Hugo Chavez moves to decrease the country's reliance on the U.S., which now buys about two-thirds of Venezuelan oil exports.
Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, has boosted sales to China to 154,000 barrels a day, up from 14,000 barrels a day in 2004. China has meanwhile announced plans to pour about $10 billion into Venezuelan energy and infrastructure sectors, as it looks to feed its own soaring domestic energy demand, Chinese state media said.
``Risen Again''
China has ``risen again,'' setting an example for Venezuela and developing countries around the world, Chavez said after representatives from the two countries signed six economic cooperation accords last week in Caracas.
``China is demonstrating that you don't have to be an empire to be grand,'' Chavez said.
The Venezuelan infrastructure fund will include cooperation in health, science and technology sectors between the two countries, Maduro said.
China Development Bank president Chen Yuan is in Caracas today to sign the accord. The bank has financed most of China's largest infrastructure projects, granting 1.6 trillion yuan in loans ($203 billion) to fund more than 4,000 projects since it was founded in 1994, the bank's website states.
China also plans to aid Venezuelan agricultural development, assisting in seed improvement and crop transport, and could help establish an agricultural science academy in Venezuela, Venezuelan state media said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Theresa Bradley in Caracas at tbradley7@bloomberg.net .
posted by Alice at
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
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