Hargeysa, 14 Dec, 2010 (Nnn)- Somaliland president Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo is expected to pay an official visit to China early next year, at the invitation of Chinese Government. It was earlier in the year when a 14-member delegation from the People’s Republic of China made on official visit to the Republic of Somaliland to study the economic and investment climate earlier in the year. The delegation which consists of some of China’s leading investors, government officials and members of China’s leading media-houses arrived in the capital Hargeisa.
Mr. Qi told local press at the time that they were delighted with their trip to Somaliland and expressed their desire to invest in number of places in the country. They praised the people of Somaliland for their warm hospitality and for their achievements without international help.
The state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) attempted to acquire an interest in Somaliland potential oil reserves. The Chinese state oil giant, CNOOC, has already won permission to search for oil in part of Somalia, – coming to an agreement in 2007 with Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, the then head of the “Transitional Federal Government”, which demonstrates China’s willingness to brave Africa’s most volatile regions in its hunt for natural resources.” CNOOC’s deal with Somalia’s transitional federal government gave it exploration rights in the north Mudug region, some 500km north-east of Mogadishu.
China has now approached the government of Somaliland, where earlier surveys also show the possibility of significant oil reserves. It is a truth, overlooked at your peril, that China is steadily building its influence in Africa and the Indian Ocean.
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