I am so pleased to be here, at the sod turning ceremony. 

I believe we both have looked forward to officially starting the project for quite some time since China State Construction Engineering Corporation won the tender in Beijing at the end of August  and the construction contract was signed in St. George's in October. After two month joint effort of hardworking for preparation, we are finally here. 

This ceremony comes at a right time when we are celebrating the Christmas season and the New Year.  This is a Christmas and New Year gift to all Grenadian people, a gift from the government and people of the People's Republic of China to the government and the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique. This is a gift for Christmas and New Year but not for it only.  It is a gift for the people of Grenada in future life.

Eight years ago, when we came back to Grenada, we promised, at the request of the Grenadian government, that we would help the Grenadian people to build up stadia. That reminds me of my first meeting with you, Your Right Hon. You correct my pronunciation by saying it is stadia instead of stadium.  Now the second one, apart from the Cricket stadium only next to us, the National Athletic and Football Stadium is coming as we promised.  It is a witness of the friendship of the two peoples. In the near future, a high standard modern and multifunctional international athletic and football stadium will be here, as another symbol of our friendly relationship.

We are happy to do so because we understand what does sports mean to the Grenadian people. You have a former Cricket Star as Prime Minister, and you now have the World Champion the shinning star Kirani James who is the pride of the nation. We can see young people playing cricket, net ball, football wherever a piece of ground could serve as their play court. A lot of people enjoy badminton, long tennis and even table tennis which is so popular in my country. Sports make one strong and bright. Sports loving people are bright and friendly people, because when people are doing sports together, they are communicating with each other and sharing their friendship. And I believe that is the reason why, as a foreigner, I can always experience the friendship in this country. We are happy we can contribute and consolidate the friendship. I believe when the stadium is completed, more and more national-wide, regional and even world level games will be held here. I hope and I am confident that more Kirani James will run out of this stadium to the field of Olympic as the World Champion.

I noticed, Your Rt. Hon, that this project is on the top of your government projects list in your Budget Report to the House of Representative and to the whole nation. I can assure you, on behalf of the contractor, Your Rt Hon, this project will be completed in good time and in good quality. The contractor, China State Construction Engineering Corporation is one of the most world famous contractors in China. For the past two decades, it ranks the first among China's companies in the top 225 international contractors. CSCES has undertaken many government-aided project since 1950s. Numerous high-quality projects have been conducted by them, and thus gained them the world-wide reputations. The management and technical team has been carefully selected for this project. Therefore, I'm fully confident that this stadium will be another attractive and fascinating spot in this country.  

They will not only present to the Grenadian people a wonderful Athelic and Football Stadium but to create hundreds of job opportunities to local people. I understand that creating job opportunities is your and your government' stop concern in your new economy. I am very happy to say that more than a hundred job opportunities are currently created by Chinese companies.  Nearly 30 local workers are now working with CSCEC, with the progress of the project, hundreds of job opportunities will be created to the local people. Nearly 100 local workers are now working with 11 China Harbour Engineers in St Marks River Mitigation project, and more jobs are coming with the expansion of the project. There are also local people working with the Chinese Agriculture Mission in La Sagges and the Chinese Technical Cooperation team in the Cricket stadium. We are also expecting hundreds of jobs when the project of the additional works of the low income houses starts next month. So, the Chinese are creating jobs for the local people in Grenada! 

The name of China was mentioned five times in your budget report, Your Rt Hon. I believe this is the foreign country that you mentioned most in the report. The meaning, I understand, is that, China has become the most important partner in your economic and social development. We are happy to be there. To share your joys with friends and to stick together though thick and thin has been one of the most important Chinese traditional philosophies. We would be happy to share with you what we have achieved in the past 35 years and try to joint you in your efforts to address the problem you may face in your social and economic development by expanding the field and deepening the degree of our cooperation. This is the second sod turning ceremony I attended since I arrived seven months ago, and I believe it will definitely not be the last one. We can expect more cooperations in the future and China will joint Grenada, hand in hand, to move forward together towards a common progress. That is how the bilateral relations will grow and be consolidated. 

Thanks!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!