Liu Jianjun Leads a Delegation to Visit Singapore and Laos

To deeply participate in the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, strengthen Weifang's friendly exchanges and cooperation with Singapore and Laos, and promote high-quality development through high-standard opening-up, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor Liu Jianjun, upon invitation, led a delegation to Singapore and Laos from October 7 to 14 to participate in and conduct economic and trade exchange activities.

During the visit, the delegation engaged in a series of economic, trade, and cultural exchange activities, conducted extensive communications with the governments, enterprises, and business associations of Singapore and Laos, witnessed the signing of relevant projects, promoted Weifang's achievements in high-quality development, favorable business environment, and broad cooperation opportunities, reached more cooperation agreements, and achieved fruitful results.

At the China Cultural Centre in Singapore, Liu Jianjun participated in the "Hometown of Confucius•Friendly Shandong" cultural and tourism promotion meeting and introduced Weifang's kite crafting techniques to guests at the intangible cultural heritage exhibition. At the Singapore-Shandong Collaboration Conference on High-level Openness, Liu Jianjun engaged in in-depth discussions with representatives from the Singapore government, local business associations, and prominent entrepreneurs. Attendees expressed admiration for Weifang's achievements and looked forward to further enhancing communication and cooperation with Weifang to facilitate the implementation of more projects in the fields of economy, trade, agriculture, technology, and culture.

During their visit to Singapore, Liu Jianjun and his delegation met with Kuok Khoon Hong, Chairman of Wilmar International; Niu Yuxin, Executive Vice President of Yihai Kerry Arawana Holdings, and Damon Buckley, Vice President for Iron Ore Sales. The two sides had in-depth discussions on enhancing cooperation in modern agriculture, international commodity trade, project investment, and other areas. Liu Jianjun noted that Weifang has maintained a close and frequent cooperative relationship with Singapore for a long time. He expressed the hope that this visit will serve as an opportunity to accelerate the implementation of key cooperation projects and promote practical cooperation on a broader scale, across more fields, and at deeper levels. The entrepreneurs highly praised Weifang's development and expressed their willingness to leverage their strengths, continuously expand cooperation opportunities, and jointly create a new chapter in cooperation and development. At the China (Weifang) -Singapore Economic and Trade Cooperation Exchange Conference, Liu Jianjun introduced the economic and social development of Weifang. He said that in recent years, Weifang has deeply participated in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, actively fostering a market-oriented and world-class business environment governed by a sound legal framework and making every effort to create a new highland for high-standard opening-up. He expressed the hope that friends from all walks of life will continue to pay attention to and support Weifang, make active plans for projects, connect resources, and achieve greater development through deepening cooperation. Weifang will provide the best service guarantee for enterprises to develop in the city with an efficient and transparent government environment, a well-equipped business environment, an open and inclusive cultural environment, and a livable and business-friendly living environment.

During their visit to Laos, Liu Jianjun and his delegation met with Sommad Pholsena, Vice President of the National Assembly of Laos and Chairman of the Lao Committee for Peace and Solidarity; Phouvong Vongkhamsao, Deputy Mayor of Vientiane, and Sugan Benyong, Deputy Secretary of the Luang Prabang Provincial Party Committee, to discuss cooperation in agricultural machinery, fine chemicals, mineral development, and modern agriculture. During the meeting with Sommad Pholsena, Liu Jianjun stated that Weifang and Laos are important partners with broad prospects for cooperation in multiple fields. Liu Jianjun hoped that Laos will continue to facilitate the deepening of economic and trade cooperation between the two sides, achieving mutual benefit and common development. Sommad Pholsena said that he is impressed by the achievements of economic and social development in Weifang, and will actively support cooperation between the two sides in agriculture, industry, culture and tourism, healthcare, and other fields. He expressed the hope that people from both places will visit each other frequently and welcomed more Weifang enterprises to invest and develop in Laos. During the discussion with Phouvong Vongkhamsao, Liu Jianjun noted the growing economic cooperation between Weifang and Vientiane and expressed a desire to future deepen collaboration in relevant areas and expand the effectiveness of cooperation. Phouvong Vongkhamsao highly praised the achievements of cooperation between Vientiane and Weifang, and looked forward to establishing a regular channel for cooperation and exchange between the two sides. He expressed the willingness to serve as a bridge for more Weifang enterprises to invest and develop in Vientiane, and jointly promote greater effectiveness in friendly exchanges and economic cooperation between the two sides. During the discussion with Sugan Benyong, Liu Jianjun stated that Weifang and Luang Prabang have strong complementarity and great potential for cooperation in modern agriculture, agricultural machinery and equipment, agricultural product trade, cultural tourism, and other fields. Liu Jianjun expressed the hope that both sides can enhance government exchanges and economic cooperation to achieve high-level win-win cooperation. Sugan Benyong highly praised the important achievements of the delegation's visit this time, appreciated the achievements of Weifang in modern agriculture, equipment manufacturing, and ancient city conservation and development, and expressed appreciation for the friendly cooperation and mutual assistance tradition between China and Laos. He will actively respond to the various suggestions put forward by the delegation and promote the achievement of more cooperative results.

During the visit to Laos, Liu Jianjun attended the China (Weifang) - Laos Economic and Trade Promotion Meeting and held talks with Yao Bin, President of the Lao Chinese Chamber of Commerce. In his speech at the promotion meeting, Liu Jianjun introduced the economic and social development of Weifang. He said that economic and trade cooperation between Weifang and Laos is close, with frequent people-to-people exchanges and rapid growth in economic and trade cooperation. He expressed the hope that the promotion meeting event can serve as an opportunity to better play the role of bridging between enterprises and chambers of commerce, and take information sharing, industry exchanges, and economic and trade exchanges to a new level. Weifang will create a first-class business environment and provide full services to ensure the development of enterprises. Through discussions, both sides agreed that Weifang is one of the most dynamic cities in China, with vast cooperation opportunities with Laos in agricultural product processing, agricultural machinery and equipment, chemical industry, green development, and other areas. Yao Bin stated that the Chamber of Commerce will actively promote close contact and deep cooperation with Weifang, and warmly welcome Weifang enterprises to invest and develop in Laos. Liu Jianjun conducted research at Ruiyuan Futian Potassium Salt Co., Ltd. to gain an in-depth understanding of the company's production and operation, technological innovation, industrial planning, etc. Liu Jianjun also had exchanges with heads of related upstream and downstream enterprises such as SK Ruihaisheng (Laos) Technology Co., Ltd. and Unibrom Technology Wholly Foreign-Owned Limited Company. He encouraged enterprises to fully leverage their experience and advantages in investing and developing in Laos, leading and driving more enterprises to explore the market, further improving the industrial chain, continuously expanding the effectiveness of open development, and promoting high-quality development of enterprises. The entrepreneurs stated that they will strengthen the concept of cooperative development and contribute more efforts to deepen cooperation and enhance people-to-people exchanges between the two cities.