The Director General (DG) and Ambassador-at-Large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Amb. Dr. Victoria Sulimani has on 24th October 2023 successfully participated at the 16th Senior Officials meeting of the Forum on Africa-China Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.

Key topics discussed at the meeting were the planning of the next FOCAC Conference to be held in 2024, Trade and Investment including Innovation, Global Governance, People-to-People exchange amongst others. Participants also discussed the progress made in implementing outcomes of the previous FOCAC meetings and reviewed the current status of China-Africa cooperation.

Both sides expressed readiness to take joint measures to further facilitate and support the cooperation in Chinese and African Companies inorder to encourage them carry out and promote entrepreneurial spirit, seize opportunities, unlock Potentials, break new grounds and as well as write a new chapter on China-Africa cooperation in this new era.

On the margins of the 16th senior officials meeting, Dr. Victoria Sulimani made a separate bilateral engagement with the Director General for African Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Wu Peng who doubles as Secretary General of a constituted Chinese Follow-up Committee on the Eight Ministerial Conference on FOCAC.

During the engagement, the two senior diplomats discussed a wide range of development programs aimed at strengthening the relationship between Sierra Leone and China. She expressed gratitude to the Chinese Government for its continued support to Sierra Leone’s development efforts, especially in the areas of infrastructure and agriculture.

Overall the meeting was seen as a positive step towards deepening the longstanding friendship between the two nations in advancing their shared goals of socio-economic development and poverty reduction strategies.

The DG of the Sierra Leone Foreign Ministry and International Cooperation was accompanied by a long standing career Diplomat, Amb.Soulay Daramy who is now the Executive Director of the newly established Foreign Service Academy in Freetown, and the Director in charge of Multilateral and International Affairs at MFAIC.

Credit: Information Department
Sierra Leone Embassy Beijing, China