By Ephraim Modi D.S
The Government of South Sudan and Beijing Jiaotong University organized a fourteen days’ online seminar on Wednesday in Juba focusing on road, bridge construction and maintenance for South Sudan’s engineers.
The training is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China to train South Sudanese with experiences on roads, bridges construction and maintenance in the country.
During the session, experts and scholars in the field of road and bridge construction will have discussions and exchange of knowledge with professors.
On the opening ceremony, Mr. MA Wenjun, the Charge D’affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Juba stated that the two weeks exercise will enhance the capacity of participants on road, bridge constructions and maintenance for the transformation of the infrastructural development in the country.
“It is hoped that through the two weeks of study and discussion, the seminar will help to build the road and bridge construction and maintenance capacity of South Sudan, and provide some reference for the development of transportation infrastructure in South Sudan,” said Wenjun.
He complemented that in the past years, thousands of officials and personnel have participated in such kind of trainings and conducted in-depth interaction and experience sharing. The seminar will promote exchanges between two countries in the professional field.
In attendance during the opening ceremony was Simon Mijok Mijak, the Minister of Roads and Bridges who commended the government of the People’s Republic of China for cementing relationship with South Sudan for the past ten years through vibrant projects of roads and bridges.
Minister Mijak applauded the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and Beijing Jiaotong University and the Chinese Embassy in Juba for sponsoring and organizing the online seminar.
He further echoed that there’s secret of development in the country to the young generation of the engineers who are encountering the same footsteps of transformation which the young people of China had taken.
Mijak added that transformation of South Sudan is transformation of Africa amidst the heart of Africa.
Meanwhile, Henry Jenoro Amok, Engineer and a Project Manager for Juba- Rumbek road said the informative seminar will not only direct them but also mentor them on construction and maintenance of roads and bridges.
“Today’s seminar would include a number of advanced topics regarding the China’s national conditions, history of China’s Bridge Development, road and bridge construction materials, road bed engineering, bridge engineering conservation and maintenance of bridges defect and etc.,” he said.
Additionly, he said the seminar will also teach trainees to understand personal protection and public health precaution of COVID_19, and share China’s experience and stories in pandemic prevention and control.
For the past decade, the Chinese government through the effort of the Ministry of Commerce, has organized a series of bilateral seminars and workshops together with the Government of South Sudan at senior level and technical level.
In the keynote speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping at opening ceremony of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Senegal last November that China will work closely with African countries to implement nine programs in the next three years including capacity building.
Jinping continued that China will proceed its support on providing more platforms and more opportunities to further implement such capacity building program together with the Government of South Sudan.