Uruguay aspires to deepen ties with Shenzhen

Writer: Zhang Yu, Zhou Ting  | Editor: Holly Wang  | From: Shenzhen Daily | Updated: 2019-08-23

A candombe performance is staged at yesterday's event. Courtesy of Consulate General of Uruguay in Guangzhou

Uruguay, a country that has been described by some as the Pearl of the West, is looking for more cooperation opportunities with Shenzhen.

Coinciding with the National Day of Uruguay, Uruguay XXI, the country’s investment, export and image promotion agency, and the Embassy of Uruguay in China are organizing Uruguay Week in China, which takes place in the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen and Chongqing. Shenzhen is the third leg of the tour.

Leading a 21-member business delegation, the country’s industry, energy and mining minister Guillermo Moncecchi paid a three-day visit to Shenzhen and attended a business seminar aimed at further promoting bilateral exchanges and collaboration with Shenzhen in areas like information technology and smart city solutions.

In his speech delivered at the seminar, Moncecchi pointed out that Uruguay, though a small country, can become a good partner with China.

“We look forward to strengthening cooperation with Shenzhen in logistics, smart city and advanced technologies,” said Moncecchi.

Moncecchi said that with the location advantage of being a regional business hub and the important role it plays in the Belt and Road Initiative, Uruguay aims to become the gateway to Latin America for Shenzhen companies.

Fernando Lugris, the Uruguayan ambassador to China, said that apart from major tech giants like Huawei and ZTE, a number of small and medium-sized Shenzhen companies have also set up businesses in Uruguay.

Lugris said he hopes more Shenzhen companies can gain a better understanding of the country through this seminar and regard it as a destination for investments in infrastructure, agribusiness and corporate services.

“Huawei and ZTE, both of them have been very proactive, because they have their offices in our capital, Montevideo. They have already had people working in the offices for 10 years, so the companies are very reliable partners,” said Martin Andres Alvez Lemos, consul general of the Consulate General of Uruguay in Guangzhou.

Lemos noted that the small South American nation is the first country in the world to connect all of its schools to the Internet and provide all primary school children with a free laptop.

Uruguay Week in China was first launched in 2018 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Uruguay and China.

The event includes a series of country promotion seminars, an exclusive cuisine presentation of Uruguayan products as well as an exotic candombe performance.

China is a major trading partner with Uruguay, purchasing 26 percent of its exports in 2018. Guangdong Province accounted for 50 percent of China’s total imports of Uruguayan products last year.

In 2018, Uruguay became the first nation in South America’s Southern Cone and the Mercosur to join the Belt and Road Initiative.