BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO
PREMIER for Guadalcanal Provincial Government Francis Sade says the recent agreement sealed between his government and the Solomon Island Business Chinese Council (SCBC) does not take away GP’s power to make decisions.
Sade echoed the above statement after the agreement was sealed.
He said the purpose of the agreement is to bridge Guadalcanal province and Guangdong province in China.
“We have that connection long time ago but the difficulty we are facing is having the platform or channel to start our discussions with Guangdong province.
“The challenge is on language, culture and bureaucracy and all these things,” Sade said.
He said with this partnership SCBC will bridge GP through the signed MOU.
“SCBC will communicate on Guadalcanal’s behalf.
“So they don’t take away the power that we GP possess to make decision but GP will still be able to make our decision on whatever we will go into in terms of the partnership with Guangdong. SCBC will be our bridge. They provide the platform for us to discuss the importance areas that GP would like to develop or go into,” Sade said.
He adds in September 2020 GP renewed its relationship with Guangdong province.
Chairman of the Solomon Islands Business Chinese Council (SCBC) Antonio Lee says SCBC is only acting as the bridge for both parties
“We provide a platform where both parties will use to communicate between two sides, we don’t make any decisions. Guadalcanal provincial government will make their own decision and we will communicate the message to Guangdong province.
“Language is key, to communication, so when we don’t under each other in terms of cultures and language, that is when it becomes a challenge,” Lee said.
He adds they are business council and their strength is on trade economic investments.
“Through our connection we hope there will be improvement. We will do it in a humble way and we will do it according to our capacity,” Lee said.
