China commits to youth development
China has expressed commitment towards partnering Malawi Government in developing and improving lives of young people in the country.
The Chinese Ambassador to Malawi Wang Shi-Ting made the commitmenttoday when he held talks with National Aids Commission (NAC) youth commissioner Chimwemwe Kaonga.
Shi-Ting Wang reiterated the need for greater investment in the youth as a way of promoting sustainable socioeconomic development for developing country such as Malawi.
“Malawi should take a cue from China’s model of harnessing youth bulge to promote socio-economic development. Malawi and China share common history and it can set precedence in tapping the skills of its youth to drive progress,” he said.
But Shi-Ting was quick to emphasise that Malawi is on track in empowering her youthful population and enabling them realise their full potential through the introduction of policies and investments.
The Chinese envoy cited the introduction of community technical colleges as one of the steps towards sustainable youth empowerments.
In his words, Kaonga commended the Chinese Government for building the capacity of Malawi youth towards effective participation in socio-economic development.
“The youth of Malawi are grateful to your government for investing heavily towards youth development. Every year, China has supported human resource development targeting the youth. This is commendable and a way to go in driving Malawi out of poverty,” he remarked.
But Kaonga asked the Chinese envoy to consider introducing youth exchange and mentorship programmes between China and Malawi in areas of HIV and AIDS; entrepreneurship; information, communication and technology (ICT) and environment.
“China is a model to instill noble ethos like patriotism, hard work and sacrifice among its youth. We therefore appeal for support towards the development of Achinyamata Centre for the National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCOM).
“NYCOM has eight hectares of land earmarked for the centre that will accommodate NYCOM offices, training and sporting facilities. The multipurpose centre will be the centre of excellence in terms of youth capacity building and will also help NYCOM achieve self sustenance,” he stressed.
Shi-Ting hailed the proposals and that his government will seriously look into the ideas raised.
China has supported Malawi in a number of areas including infrastructure development, education, health and ICT.
