President Donald Ramotar said humanitarian assistance has become an important aspect of China’s aid to Guyana and welcomed the 11th batch of doctors from that country here to serve for two years.
Ramotar made these remarks at a welcome and farewell reception held recently to extend gratitude to members of the 10th Chinese Medical Brigade, even as Guyana welcomes a new team, a report from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.
“I hope that you will also endear yourselves to the Guyanese people, and also make an important contribution towards building stronger relations between the People’s Republic of China and Guyana,” the president said at the event, which was attended by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and his wife Yvonne Hinds, Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran, members of the Chinese diplomatic corps and others.
Over the past two years, the 10th medical team comprising 14 doctors conducted several medical outreaches targeting 27,000 patients in various communities, attending to 2,900 critically-ill patients and performing more than 5,100 operations. “…in every field of endeavour they have made a great contribution to our country, they are part of the total mosaic of the Guyanese population that has its origin in different parts of the world, but uniquely forging a common thread, a common identity, a common culture, and that I think is extremely important and very good, and can even make us a stronger nation,” Ramotar said.
Ramotar recalled that in 1978, during the “opening-up period of China” the country made enormous
contributions to the whole world. Particularly noteworthy, he said, is 2008, “when we had the financial and economic crisis that gripped the world, it was fundamentally the work of China, the economic development within China, but also the investment that China has put in many of our countries that has helped the international economy to keep growing.”
The president also noted Chinese investment in infrastructure, in developing the real economy, the productive sector of the economy “… and that has proven very important for all of us, in Asia, Africa, this part of the world, Latin America, Europe, North America, Chinese investment has made an important contribution.”
In response, Ambassador Zhang Limin congratulated the outgoing medical team on their successful completion of duty and promoting Guyana/China friendly relations. He said that the doctors received acclaim from all walks of life in Guyana, noting that Dr Zhang Yueming was appointed Director of Gynaecology and Obstetrics at the Georgetown Hospital which was unprecedented in the history of the Chinese medical team in Guyana.
“I believe that the 11th medical team will carry forward the fine tradition of healing the wounded and saving the dying; knowing no boundary, strength, solidarity and cooperation with local medical skills, and making more contributions to deepening the friendship between our two people,” the ambassador said.
According to GINA, about 150 medical experts have worked in Guyana since the first team came in 1993.
The gathering at the reception (GINA photo)
