CATEGORY:ASSISTANCE/SUPPORT -------------------------------- By Trevor Thwaites Inside Grenada correspondent Saturday January 13,2007 ST. GEORGE, GRENADA - The local media is expected to benefit this year from assistance from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). That’s according to Chinese Ambassador to Grenada, His Excellency Qian Hongshan. He made the disclosure at a recent presentation ceremony of a Laptop Computer to the Director of the Government Information Service (GIS) Selwin Noel. Ambassador Hongshan said that China will be looking to develop a good cooperation with the local media. He indicated that media practitioners have been invited to participate in several courses and seminars during the year in China, based on an offer made by his country. He did not specifically outline the events or activities to be undertaken, but said that 10 journalists will be invited to the PRC. The Chinese Ambassador is keen to develop a strong and friendly relationship between the media in Grenada and China. Ambassador Hongshan is confident that the Grenada/China Media Exchange will help to showcase each other’s culture and create information linkages that will help to bridge the distant territorial gap between the two countries. Noel warmly thanked the Ambassador for the gift and spoke of the need for the GIS to aggressively advance into the technological era. This was substantiated by Supervisor of the GIS TV Shirma Wells, who attended the short presentation ceremony. She said that the GIS wants China to help boost its resources and capacity to keep abreast of the Challenges provided by the rapid information flow and the desire to keep the public informed. Ambassador Hongshan noted that his country is increasing its assistance to developing countries, particularly in the area of professional training. The Grenada/China Exchange will indeed strengthen the cooperation already existing between the two countries. Cooperation exists in the fields of Education, Sports, Social Development, Health and Agriculture among others. Grenada now boasts of the newly refurbished and renovated National Stadium, built by the People’s Republic of China as a gift to Grenada to host matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007. The government and people of Grenada have expressed their appreciation for the magnificent piece of infrastructure, which according to statistics, has been built in record time.