In the afternoon of November 15 (East Africa time), Yu Baodong (chairman of POLY-GCL Petroleum Group Holdings Limited ) and Yonis (Djibouti Energy minister) signed a memorandum of understanding for the investment agreement on business issues, with regard to core business guidelines for the cooperation between the two parties to build Djibouti pipelines and LNG plants. Nearly 100 people were present at the signing ceremony, including such important officials as the speaker of Djibouti National Assembly, the minister of Djibouti Higher Education Ministry, the Economic Affairs adviser for the President and the Supervision Director in charge of the Office of the President, as well as Ge Hua (Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Djibouti) and Li Wei (vice president of Overseas Oil & Gas Division).
Minister Yonis pointed out that the project undertaken by POLY-GLC Petroleum Group in Djibouti is the largest energy investment project in the history of Djibouti, which will bring direct fiscal revenue and create a large number of jobs and business opportunities for Djibouti, and further enhance Djibouti’s position as a regional energy and industrial center, thus playing a great strategic role in the economic and social development of Djibouti. The signing of the MOU is an important achievement of the negotiation lasting for several months, laying a solid foundation for the negotiation of the next phase of the investment agreement. The Djibouti government will continuously do its utmost to advance the formal operation of the large-scale oil & gas project in Djibouti as soon as possible.
In his speech, Chairman Yu Baodong expressed special gratitude to President Gelley and the Djibouti government as well as the leaders of Chinese Embassy in Djibouti for their high attention and powerful support to the project. He pointed out that the signing of the MOU is an important milestone in the negotiation of the project investment agreement, and the two sides will complete the final investment agreement negotiations as soon as possible, and promote the official launch of the project next year.
After the signing ceremony, Djibouti President Ismail Omar Gelley met with Chairman Yu Baodong and his delegation at the presidential office. Chairman Yu Baodong expressed his gratitude to President Gelley in terms of the official signing of the MOU and the support of Djibouti. He said that POLY-GCL would try its best to promote the all-around commencement of the project in the next year and make due contributions to the economic and social development of Djibouti. He also hoped that the President would continue to pay attention to subsequent work and promote the smooth progress of the negotiations.
President Gelley expressed his heartfelt congratulations to Chairman Yu Baodong and his delegation on the signing of the MOU, and highly appreciated the efforts made by POLY-GCL for the implementation of the project. He said, “Djibouti Government and I personally attach great importance to and firmly support the development of the POLY-GCL Project. At present, the two sides have reached a consensus on key business terms. I believe that we will soon agree on and officially sign the final investment agreement. At the invitation of the Chinese side, I will go to China for a state visit recently, and then I will introduce the POLY-GCL Djibouti Oil & Gas Project to President Xi Jinping, and promote the project to be stable and far-reaching”.
The signing ceremony of the MOU was widely concerned by the mainstream media in Djibouti, such as Djibouti National Media Station, its official newspaper National Daily and other media, which all released significant reports on the whole process of the ceremony, and relevant news has caused strong reactions in Djibouti.
