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Thursday 21 Jan 2016 - 10:40 Makkah mean time-11-4-1437
Djibouti President Guelleh (L), and Chinese President Xi (New China file image)
Djibouti (IINA) – Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh signed agreements with China to set up a trade zone and establishing a legal framework to let Chinese banks operate in the tiny Horn of Africa nation, the latest move to deepen ties with Beijing, Reuters reported.
China said last year that its military was in talks to build logistics facilities in Djibouti, a country of just 876,000 people which wants to build up its role as an international port and already hosts U.S. and French military bases.
The free zone for trade and business would cover an area of 48 sq km (19 sq miles). In a statement, President Guelleh said he wanted the first phase, covering 1.5 sq km, to be operational before the end of 2016.
Another agreement aimed to expand Djibouti's role for transshipment of goods in trade between China and the world was signed, the statement said. This would mean cargo coming to Djibouti - which is on a body of water linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden - and then being reloaded for other destinations.
The statement also said the president had signed an agreement for 'the implementation of a legal framework' for Chinese banks to operate in Djibouti.
AB/IINA
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