Marc De Buck, gedeputeerde Annie Mervillie, gemeenteraadslid

Mr Director General,
Mr Mayor,
Mr Vice-Mayor,
Dear members of the Chinese delegation,
Dear members of the Canadian delegation,

First of all I would like to heartily welcome you all in the Provincial House of East Flanders. It is a great honor for me as member of the Provincial Government of East Flanders in charge of Economic Affairs and International relations to receive this important delegation from the City of Qujing in East Flanders for this visit to East Flanders.

Chinese delegations feel at home here in East Flanders. You should know that our province has already a friendship- and cooperation agreement with the province of Hebei since 1991. East Flanders was the second Belgian province to conclude such an agreement with a Chinese counterpart and I think we may say that this cooperation has been very successful so far! However not only delegations from Hebei province or delegations such as this one have been welcomed in this provincial House. In the past, thanks to the efforts of East Flanders towards China, we had the honor to receive quite some important national delegations. The then vice – prime ministers Li Lanqing and Wu Bangguo – this latter still accomplishes an important political role – signed here the golden book on the occasion of their official visit to the Province of East Flanders.

Ladies and Gentlemen

The fact that we can act as host for this Chinese delegation which is paying a work visit here on the invitation of the Provincial Research Center for Ornamental Plants fulfils us with joy. As you know East Flanders is a very important horticulture center and well known far beyond its borders for its important knowledge centers – such as for example the University of Gent and the Research center for ornamental plants – but also for its top ranking horticulture companies with high quality products. Former mayor of Montreal mr Bourque, who has – as I have been told – studied in Vilvoorde, only 50 km from here, will surely agree with this. During your visit at the Floralies of Gent later today you will have the possibility to see why our horticulture companies belong to the top of Europe.

I have been informed that the Provincial and City authorities of Yunnan and Qujing are combining forces to develop in Qujing one of the most important thematic parcs focussing on agriculture and food in China with a surface of more then 480 hectares. This parc will certainly be an example for other cities in and outside China and I am very pleased that some of our East Flemish tree nursery and horticulture companies are already involved in this very interesting project.

The city government of Qujing is interested in cooperation with Western knowledge centers, organisations and companies in support of the further development and modernization of its horticulture sector. I am certain that our provincial research center for Ornamental Plants disposing of a lot of expertise and know how in this field on the one hand, and our excellent horticulture companies on the other hand can be ideal partners to do so. In East Flanders we always start from a win win situation for both parties and I am convinced that also in this case this starting point can be the basis for a succesful cooperation in the future.

I hope you will have some fruitful contacts and visits in the following days and hope that the already existing cooperation can be further elaborated.

I wish you all a pleasant stay here in Belgium and the Province of East Flanders in particular.

Thank you very much for your attention.
Marc De Buck