BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU, with Agency reports

Abuja-China is to send 469 technicians to Nigeria to provide technical assistance to the 36 states in the execution of 109 projects worth $14million.

Mr Zhang Taolin, Chinese Vice-Minister of Agriculture, announced this yesterday when he led a 15-man delegation to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The five-year technical cooperation deal between Nigeria and China is part of  the South-South Cooperation, SSC, programme.

Zhang  commended the Federal Government for its proper implementation of the South-South Cooperation programme.

He said the delegation was in the country to seek more ways of boosting cooperation in the area of agriculture through South-South cooperation.

Areas of cooperation, he said, include food production, water conservation, gas production, cross fertilisation, storage system and modern technology transfer.

“Going by the evaluation report and the success recorded in various areas of intervention, the Chinese government is planning to send another 190 technicians under the future projection to Nigeria,” he said.