The government of Lesotho and China have signed a framework agreement on provision of soft loan amounting to M228 million by the Chinese government to Lesotho.

The agreement was signed at the Ministry of Finance and Planning on Thursday, and the money will used for expansion of telecommunications throughout the country.

The Minister of Finance, Dr Timothy Thahane expressed gratitude over the Chinese government for supporting the Lesotho telecommunication, saying China has been supportive to Lesotho long before independence and continued to support Lesotho until today.

He said the expansion of telecommunication will greatly help the country and Basotho during this time when there is difficulty in communication with other districts and some parts of the rural areas of the country.

“This partnership we have embarked on will help in the provision of information to rural communities and the rest of the country and we are looking forward for more assistance to develop our textile sector,” he added.

The Ambassador of China to Lesotho, Mr. Qiu Bohua said the signing is a full demonstration of good cooperation and friendly relation between the two countries.

He said it is encouraging to see that the loan will be used for Lesotho national telecoms network expansion project in which the advanced products and technology will be utilised by Chinese Company to provide voice and data services for the most population of Lesotho.

'We are pleased to see that today our relations with Lesotho are on a sound footing and it is our strong confidence that they will continue to develop and strengthen further', he said.

Mr. Bohua also pledged continued support and contribution towards the economic and social development of Basotho.

Also speaking, the Minister of Communications Science and Technology, Mr. Mothetjoa Metsing expressed appreciation over the gesture, saying the country has agendas that include Millennium Development Goals and digital devices and the loan will enable the country to achieve them.

He noted that during the Connect Africa Summit which was held recently, leaders made 2012 as a target to connecting people, noting that through the agreement of the loan, Lesotho is in the direct direction to achieve this target.

The telecommunication expansion will make a great difference in the lives of Basotho, he said, adding that by January next year, the country will establish a Universal Access Fund to ensure that people no longer travel more than 12 kilometres to access information.

The money is expected to be used within a period of five years and will be repaid in 20 years on interest rate of two percent.

Source: LENA 20/12/2007