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Bolivia set to buy Chinese telecoms satellite

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-25 10:26

President Hu Jintao meets with Bolivia's President Evo Morales on the sidelines of a series of UN sessions in New York, September 21, 2009. [Xinhua]

LA PAZ: China plans to sell Bolivia a $300 million telecommunications satellite it will build and send into orbit for the Andean country, President Evo Morales said on Thursday.

China might also finance the project, Bolivia's president said three days after meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao in New York.

"The Chinese president has vowed to build and launch a satellite for all Bolivians," Morales said in a speech in the central Oruro region.

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The technology could help improve Internet access and help isolated and poor citizens get connected to the modern world, the country's first Indian president has said.

The United Nations this month pledged to provide Bolivia with technical help on orbital positions and frequency bands.

Bolivian news agency ABI has reported the government could spend up to $300 million for the satellite. Morales said Bolivia may ask China for help to finance the project.