UN officials, officials from several countries in the great lakes region of Africa and representatives of the Chinese business community have said that they will take the opportunity of holding the second great lakes regional investment and trade conference next year to jointly tap the benefits of improving the local political and business environment and further cement the sound economic and trade relations between China and Africa.

At the UN investment promotion conference on the great lakes region in Africa, the special envoy of the UN secretary-general on the great lakes region xia huang said that the political and security situation in the great lakes region has been improving in recent years, and the countries in the region have also clearly realized that sustainable development is needed to achieve long-term peace.

He said that the great lakes region, with its vast territory and abundant resources, enjoys sound economic growth, huge market potential and improving investment environment. Chinese and African enterprises should seize opportunities, deepen cooperation, turn regional advantages into positive driving forces, achieve mutual benefit and win-win results and promote local economic and social development.

In the great lakes region envoy, director of the office of the UN secretary-general, Anne fee Mr Johnson said, the second great lakes region investment and trade conference theme is "let the cross-border investment and trade has become the regional integration catalyst", the meeting will be invited to the district leaders and the private sector representatives from all over the world, to promote dialogue between the public and private sectors. Successful cross-border projects and specific investment opportunities will also be presented. He pointed to energy, agriculture, minerals, infrastructure and information and communication technology as the most promising areas for investment in the region.

'the countries of the great lakes region have realized the need to achieve regional peace and stability through common economic development, and hope that China can help the region develop clean energy, oil, gas and mineral resources,' executive secretary of the great lakes international conference joachim muta said at the briefing. He also stressed that the meeting not only received assistance and support from the United Nations, but also welcomed Chinese enterprises to participate in the meeting. "Member states and a wide range of African countries will do their best to demonstrate and negotiate during the meeting." "More foreign-invested enterprise communities or industrial parks are proposed to facilitate the development of new projects, and member states will further improve services and work to ensure the safety of investment," muta said.

Rwandan ambassador James base money is introduced at the meeting, in recent years, the great lakes region continue to improve investment environment, many countries have to improve the business environment, a few short years, Rwanda in the doing business report issued by the world bank climbed in 100, 2019 and ranked 29th in the global 190 economies.

With regard to the opportunities and expectations of Africa, Chinese enterprises have pledged to deepen cooperation and expand new win-win opportunities.

Yu jianlong, secretary-general of the China chamber of international commerce, said at the meeting that china-africa economic and trade exchanges go back to ancient times and cooperation is thriving. In the future, the China chamber of commerce looks forward to strengthening cooperation with the United Nations, building a strong platform for friendly economic and trade exchanges between African and African enterprises and providing new impetus for the coordinated development of the "One Belt And One Road" initiative and the UN sustainable development goals.