Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) is expected to receive close to 100,000 Chinese tourists as soon as it improves its tourism infrastructure, said Zhang Wei, vice president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).

 

In an interview with Macauhub on the sidelines of the Meeting of Entrepreneurs for Economic and Trade Cooperation Between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries in Praia, Zhang Wei said Cabo Verde, “will have the advantage of participating in economic and trade cooperation with China, under the guidance of the Belt and Road initiative, if it can improve tourist facilities.”

 

“There are about 100,000 Chinese who want visit Cabo Verde, if the country has better tourist facilities,” such as hotels, but also road infrastructure, said the CCPIT official, pointing to the examples of Italy and Greece, which receive hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists every year.

 

The island of Santiago, where the meeting was held, is currently the site of construction of several large hotel developments, namely that of Macau businessman David Chow, which was visited by the delegation of the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM).

 

Other chains investing in the archipelago, where tourism is the driving force of the economy, include US hotel chain Hilton and Spain’s Meliá.

 

In a recent visit to Cabo Verde, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pledged “unconditional support” from his country’s government to the development of the local maritime economy, where China is already involved in the future special economic zone of the island of S. Vicente.

 

Zhang Wei also said that the geographical position of Cabo Verde, off the northeast coast of Africa and close to the archipelagos of the Canary Islands (Spain), Madeira and Azores (Portugal), is one of the country’s main advantages.

 

 “Under the guidance of the Belt and Road initiative, we have several partner countries in the west direction, for example Greece and Italy. If we have Cabo Verde as a partner in the opposite direction, the initiative will expand even further,” the CCPIT official told Macauhub.

 

Zhang Wei said that Cape Verdean Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva told CCPIT he wanted to get companies to participate in projects and construction of infrastructure, among other areas, adding that “Chinese companies are available to participate” in the archipelago’s maritime economy project.

 

“CCPIT can carry out an exchange with the Cape Verdean promotion and trade body to attract and organise Chinese companies,” said Zhang Wei.

 

The head of the Chamber said he believes that the Cape Verdean government “will provide entrepreneurs with a better business environment and more benefits,” because “it is aware of the advantages of China, particularly in terms of productive capacity of infrastructure and capital.”