The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has appealed for the signing of two Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria and China on tourism promotion.
The minister made the appeal yesterday in Abuja when the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Chui Jian Chun paid him a courtesy visit.
According to the minister, the two MoU between both countries are on the Facilitation of Group Travels by Chinese Tourists to Nigeria and Travel Facilitation through the Approved Destination Status (ADS).
“Though the two MoU date back to 2019, they have not been signed.
“It is important that our two countries work together to negotiate and sign these MoU to promote tourism between them,’’ he said.
Mohammed said that the relations between Nigeria and China span about five decades and the visit by the Envoy would further strengthen the very cordial relations.
On the deep cooperation between both countries in the area of culture and tourism, Mohammed said Nigeria and China established Cultural Centres in Abuja and Beijing respectively.
He said in spite financial constraints which led to a temporary closure of Nigeria centre in Beijing, the country had enjoyed cultural  exchanges and training from the Chinese Government.
“In tourism, Nigeria and China signed a bilateral Agreement in 2002 to encourage cooperation in the field of tourism between both countries.
“The Agreement focused mainly on exchange programmes, human capacity building, joint marketing and investment.
“Though some of our officers have received short training on tourism in China and online, the dearth of skilled manpower in the tourism sector here has made it imperative for us to seek more advance capacity building.
“We also seek scholarship programme in Tourism Statistics and Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), tourism development, product development, etc., from the Chinese government,’’ he said.
Outside bilateral cooperation on culture and tourism, Mohammed said China had been a worthy ally of Nigeria in the building and upgrading of infrastructure, especially in roads, railways, power and aviation.
Mohammed appealed to the Envoy to use his good offices to fast-track the evaluation and approval process of a 500-million-dollar loan being sought from the China Export-Import Bank for three major projects.
The projects, according to the minister included the digitisation of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and the construction of a headquarters complex and transmission network for Integrated Television Services (ITS).
He said the loan was also to be used for the construction of an ultra-modern Media City in Ikorodu, Lagos state.
For his part, the Chinese Ambassador recalled that his country and Nigeria celebrated 50-year anniversary of robust, healthy and beneficial bilateral relations in 2021.
He said he was willing to consolidate and build more on cordial relations between the two countries, particularly in the areas of culture and tourism.
The Envoy, therefore, presented a document to the minister on his strategy to further strengthen the cordial relations between both countries which he termed “Growth, Development, Progress document’’.