Praia, Cape Verde, 24 May – A group of 12 Chinese business people is visiting Cape Verde this week looking for investment opportunities in the tourism and real estate sectors, the local press reported.

The business people, who chose not to speak to the local press, are particularly looking at the possibility of investing in the construction of hotels and houses on the archipelago, according to Cape Verdean newspaper, A Semana.

The four-day visit began on Sal Island, the archipelago’s tourist center and where the main international airport is located, and continued Wednesday in the capital, Praia, with a round of meetings with the local authorities.

Recently, Macau businessman David Chow said he would invest some US$130 million by 2009 in building a tourist complex on the islet of Santa Maria, of the coast of the Cape Verdean capital, which would include a hotel, marina, restaurants and swimming pools.

Chow also plans to make over US$390 million in investments in Cape Verde, particularly in the country’s capital, over the next ten years.

According to sources contacted by Macauhub, a Portuguese-Chinese owned group is also looking to invest in the archipelago in tourism and casinos.

Tourism in Cape Verde has seen strong growth in the last few years and is now one of the main driving forces behind the growth of the economy.

Last year, Cape Verde’s hotels welcomed 233,000 tourists to the archipelago, 26.4 percent more than in the previous year, with Sal Island as the main destination, according to figures from the country’s National Statistics Institute. (macauhub)