Zhang Zhigang, Chairman of China Umbalai Industrial Park - "We are full of energy to catch the the Belt and Road Express"
2023-08-09
In the early morning, in Mbale City, Uganda, the Central Umale Industrial Park began to liven up again. Workers rushing to work from all directions, in groups of three or five, pass through the magnificent park gate and enter various factories. They walked briskly, their faces brimming with vitality and smiles. On social media platforms, Zhang Zhigang, Chairman of Mbalai Industrial Park, shared the scene of 'A continent full of hope!'. The Central Umbarai Industrial Park is 220 kilometers away from the capital of Uganda, Kampala, and was launched in March 2018. "The 'the Belt and Road' initiative gives wings to China Africa cooperation, and Mbalai Industrial Park is the fruit of the joint construction of the 'the Belt and Road' between China and Ukraine," said Zhang Zhigang. Zhang Zhigang, who is far away in Africa, is full of interest in this new concept. At that time, as the Chairman of Uganda Tiantang Group, he had been working hard in the East African region for 14 years. From Tanzania to Uganda, from doing luggage trade to building industrial parks, Zhang Zhigang kept walking. He built the Tiantang Industrial Park in the outskirts of Kampala, which had already begun to take shape at that time. "The 'the Belt and Road' initiative makes me feel China's determination and sincerity to promote larger scale and higher level international cooperation." Zhang Zhigang said, "To implement the vision of 'shared peace and common development', for Tiantang Industrial Park, is to truly benefit the African people." With this idea in mind, when choosing industries, Zhang Zhigang focused on improving people's livelihood. Considering the high steel prices in Uganda at that time and the high pressure on people to build houses, he brought technology, talent, and equipment from his hometown of Tangshan to build a steel factory. Seeing some impoverished people having to sleep on grass because mattresses are too expensive, he built a sponge factory that specializes in producing furniture such as mattresses. Gradually, this "China Industrial Park" established a good reputation in the local area. On July 14, 2014, Tiantang Industrial Park welcomed a distinguished guest - Ugandan President Museveni. In the nearly 400 acre park, Museveni walked and looked, occasionally inquiring about the situation with Zhang Zhigang. The originally scheduled half hour inspection was eventually extended to nearly 3 hours. President Museveni said he wants to protect the interests of Chinese investors in Ukraine. They come from far away China to open factories, solve employment problems, increase taxes, and increase product added value. "Zhang Zhigang recalled. "The principle of joint consultation, joint construction and sharing advocated by the 'the Belt and Road' has inspired me a lot." Zhang Zhigang said, "The industrial park should adhere to the 'localization' development path, purchase in Uganda, invest in Uganda, and help Uganda develop, so as to truly establish itself and take root in this land." A greater opportunity has come. In 2016, with the support of the governments of China and Ukraine, Tiantang Group began preparing to build the China Ukraine Mbale Industrial Park, which was one of the first national level industrial parks approved by the Ugandan government. In March 2018, the Mbale Industrial Park held a groundbreaking ceremony, and President Museveni attended and delivered a speech calling on all sectors of Ukraine to provide support to Chinese investors. In September of that year, during the Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation of the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, China and Uzbekistan officially signed a memorandum of cooperation on jointly building the "the Belt and Road". In recent years, with the construction of rows of new factories, the production of new factories, and batches
Edit:He ChengXi Responsible editor:Tang WanQi
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