China's vice-president Zeng Qinghong is flanked by two beautiful Jamaican women as he cuts the ribbon to officially open the China-Caribbean Trade Fair at the National Arena in Kingston yesterday. (Photo Joseph Wellington)

Government yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the island's railway system, following proposals that government sources say initially emerged out of Beijing.

The agreement, signed between the Ministry of Transport and Works and the China National Machinery and Equipment Corp Group (CNMEC), will also provide "adequate types and numbers of passenger coaches, cargo, wagons and locomotives" for the system, signalling that the revival plans include both passenger and cargo transport.

The agreement comes three years behind the 2002 timetable initially announced in the approximate US$3 million agreement with the Indian group RITES for the trains to start rolling again.

In exchange India would have gotten a 25-year lease and 30 per cent ownership of the Jamaica Railway Corporation.

China's vice-president Zeng Qinghong (right) gestures as he and Prime Minister P J Patterson lead guests to last night's welcome dinner at Jamaica House for the China-Caribbean Trade Fair. (Photo Joseph Wellington)

"We had an agreement with Canada and India but that fell through, so Cabinet has decided on this agreement with China to see what will happen from here," Transport and Works Minister Robert Pickersgill told the Observer shortly after the signing yesterday, following the opening of the China-Caribbean Trade Fair at the National Arena.

The fair continues today with business-to-business meetings, to be followed by two days of public access on Friday and Saturday.

The five days of activity got rolling yesterday with the opening of the two-day trade forum, interspersed with other meetings in the capital, Kingston, and photo ops.

Last night, Prime Minister P J Patterson also hosted Chinese vice-president Zeng Qinghong and his delegation as well as Caribbean leaders and delegates at a welcome reception at Jamaica House.

The CNMEC is a large state-owned enterprise group integrating technology, industry, trade and financial services into one entity.

The group comprises major companies and institutions attached to China's former Ministry of Machinery Industry and is under the direct control of the State Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

Yesterday, Pickersgill declined to elaborate on details of the agreement but last night a Government official, who did not wish to be named, told the Observer that the expression of interest for the revitalisation of the railway system came from Beijing.

"It was the Chinese who indicated that they wanted to do this," the official said.

The Jamaican rails have been inoperable since 1989, shut down by Government after years of losses and deterioration of the rail infrastructure.

Government has been trying to privatise the service since 1999. The Beijing-Kingston agreement is the latest reached between the Jamaican Government and outside developers to restore the railway system.

But yesterday, the Government official said things are different this time around.

"Their (Chinese) commitment to what they are about to do is the most significant I have seen," the official said, noting that the planned restoration is aimed at relieving the road network of the pressure of freight transportation, cargo and passenger travel.

Yesterday's MOU was the ninth signed between Jamaica and China since Tuesday when eight bilateral agreements ranging from tourism co-operation to Chinese language training were signed.

The agreements are key components of the China-Caribbean Trade Fair and Economic and Trade Forums, both now on at the National Arena and Jamaica Conference Centre respectively.

At yesterday's opening of the trade fair, An Min, the Asian country's vice-president of commerce, said he hoped the occasion would facilitate more business opportunities and trade links between China and the Caribbean.

"I believe that through this fair, we will enable better knowledge of the competitive companies and commodities China has to offer as well as the development of market economy in China on the part of the people of all trades from across the Caribbean region," he said.

Jamaica's minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, KD Knight, emphasised that although the two nations "represent two opposite ends of the international economic spectrum", both have succeeded in forming mutually beneficial linkages in the areas of manufacturing and production.

"We in the Caribbean represent small, vulnerable economies which may account for less than 0.1 per cent of world trade; China is a global trade and economic giant accounting for 5.5 per cent of global trade amounting to US$1.15 trillion, and is the third largest trading nation in the world," Knight noted.

"Despite these significant differences, we share much in common as developing countries with a common desire to promote sustainable development and economic progress for our peoples," he added.

Yesterday, the trade fair was jointly declared open by the Chinese vice-president along with other officials of Jamaica and other participating countries, including Cuba, Suriname and Antigua.

The fair consists of a total of 10 booths of Caribbean service providers and 80 booths of Chinese offerings - ranging from motorcycles, cellular phones, water cooling systems, home appliances and other electronics.

- martina@jamaicaobserver.com

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