BRF gets positive reviews
By Li
Ruohan and Li Xuanmin
Since
its launch in 2013, the Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI) has delivered results that have injected strong growth
impetus in a world that is full of uncertainty, participants at the second Belt
and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) said.
Nearly
5,000 delegates from 150 countries and 90 international organizations are in
the Chinese capital city from April 25 to April 27 for the event, expecting to
see how they can further benefit from and contribute to the platform in the
future.
On
Thursday, April 25, Swiss President Ueli Maurer said at a press conference held
in the Switzerland Embassy in Beijing that the country will sign a memorandum
of understanding (MOU) on BRI with China on April 29. So far 126 countries and
29 global organizations have joined the BRI, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
On
Thursday, April 25, 12 sub-forums featuring trade, financing, regional
cooperation, digital communication, people-to-people exchanges and others were
held in Beijing, as well as a CEO conference that attracted around 900
representatives from companies, trade organizations and business groups from
home and abroad.
Global Times reporters found that deals inked
during the Thursday events went beyond traditional trade sectors. Cooperation
agreements on cloud services, new-energy cooperation, and in financial
technologies were also reached.
“The BRI
is a beautiful example of what kind of international cooperation the world
needs,” Former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told the Global Times.
“The
world is dangerous as it faces threats from terrorism, climate change, migrant
crisis, trade wars and we disagree with a lot of things right now. What the
world needs right now is more cooperation and less tension,” Raffarin said.
“The BRI
is an initiative for peace, because it’s an initiative for cooperation,”
remarked Raffarin.
For
Gregory Bowen, Minister of Infrastructure Development, Public Utilities,
Energy, Transport and Implementation of Grenada, the BRI is a platform where
every country involved is treated equally regardless of their size.
“Unlike
some major economies who often speak down to us, China listens to the small
country about what they want to say and consults with us,” said Bowen.
“Some
big powers are fearful that they may lose a total control in some areas because
of the initiative, but the rest of us are looking at the initiative with hope,”
he noted.
The
Grenadian minister said that his country, that is only 344 square meters in the
Caribbean currently with a population of 112,000, is looking toward more
cooperation with China in trade and digital communication cooperation.
Vera
Songwe, executive secretary of the UN’s Economic Commission for Africa, told
the Global Times that she was
expecting more actionable agreements to be reached by the end of the second BRF
in sectors such as infrastructure and logistics.
Songwe
noted that the second BRF has been very forward-looking by having a forum on
digital cooperation as the sector is important for allowing more and better
commerce.
“We come
first with a desire to see how the 1.3 billion population market of Africa can
speak to China,” she said.
Songwe
said that the trade relationship between China and Africa is one where there is
more value added on both sides and offers better mutual win-win benefits.
Positive results
Delegates
to the forum told the Global Times
that the increasing participation shows that cooperation under the framework of
the BRI is delivering positive results and that the benefits of the initiative
are gaining wider recognition from international community.
During
the past six years, the BRI has brought tremendous opportunities to the
participant countries. According to the quantitative trade model of a World
Bank study, the BRI will increase the GDP of East Asian and Pacific developing
countries by 2.6 percent to 3.9 percent on average.
These
figures mean more job opportunities, more people shaking off poverty, and
improved infrastructure in the Belt and Road countries.
“In
terms of digital movement, Saudi’s telecom industry is the 12th-largest global
telecom market and we’ve arrived at this position in partnership with China,”
said Abdullah Alswaha, minister of Communications and Information Technology in
Saudi Arabia.
Companies like Huawei and ZTE’s transfers of
technology and know-how have helped Saudi Arabia arrive at this position and
when other markets are either flat or declining, Saudi Arabia’s market is
growing by double digits, said the minister.
Partnerships
with Chinese companies have helped Saudi Arabia redefine education, smart
healthcare, smart cities and have ignited a whole new economy in Saudi Arabia,
noted the minister.
“Our
Chinese strategic partners have helped train 8,000 Saudi professionals on these
basic and advanced technologies in the past 18 months,” said Alswaha.
Xie Wenting and Wang Wenwen
contributed to this story
Source:Global Times/Peoples’ Daily
Foreign journalists at
International Press Centre(Photo by Han Xiaoming from
People’s Daily)
BRF gets positive reviews
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