Egypt, Nov. 8, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- "I hope African and Chinese businessmen can well understand their bright opportunities, " said a chief executive of Africa's biggest banking group Saturday here on the eve of the fourth ministerial conference of the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
Craig Bond, the chief executive in China of South Africa's Standard Bank, had an interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the third Conference of China-Africa Entrepreneurs, which is in parallel with the fourth ministerial conference of the FOCAC.
After giving a speech at the entrepreneurs conference, Bond told Xinhua that "What today's conference does is to allow not only the governments but also the businessmen in Africa and China to reach agreements."
With the fourth ministerial conference held on Sunday and Monday, the FOCAC is a collective consultation and dialogue mechanism between China and African countries.
Bond said he believes the FOCAC mechanism helps promote the economic cooperation between China and Africa. "It's equally important for businessmen to understand their opportunities," he said.
"My bank is in a unique position to act as a bridge between China and Africa," he added.
As a representative of financial institutions of Africa, Bond said he expects the Chinese government to carry out the policies that help increase investments in Africa.
"I think it's a unique time for China, with its huge foreign reserves and growing power, to really help Africa develop its economies," he said.
When talking about the influence of the global financial crisis, he said unexpectedly that "In fact, in a funny way, for our China business of Standard Bank, the global financial crisis has helped us."
According to his explanation, the financial crisis means first of all, many projects in Africa funded by Western banking sources previously, including infrastructure projects and power projects, met difficulties. While China can provide money for African projects, so his bank is bringing Chinese construction companies to Africa.
Bond said his company is working with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (OOTC:BACHY) (OOTC:IDCBY) (OOTC:IDCBF) (ICBC) and other Chinese financial institutions, the cooperation is "fantastic."
"We are working at the moment about 80 big deals in the oil and gas sector, the mining sector and the power infrastructure sector, I think the prospects are very good. It is the right time for these deals to happen," Bond said confidently.
The Standard Bank has sent nearly 300 staff to China, including 50 people in Beijing. Bond said he and his team from South Africa all enjoy working and living in Beijing.
"The first year of our 'marriage' (partnership) with ICBC went very well. Our South African team in Beijing are proud to be a part of ICBC. They welcomed us as a part of their family," said Bond.
Bond said his business experience in China is very interesting. He was quite nervous before he stepped into the land of China. But things have changed after one year.
"It's not difficult as long as you understand what your are trying to achieve, and when you understand the Chinese culture, doing business in China is very easy and straightforward," Bond said.
