Virtual seminar held to introduce China-proposed BRI to Egyptians

CAIRO -- The Chinese Embassy in Egypt, Egypt's Sharaf Foundation for Sustainable Development and China Public Diplomacy Association (CPDA) jointly held on Saturday a virtual seminar to introduce the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to the Egyptian audience as part of the Get to Know China program.

Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang, President of CPDA Wu Hailong, and the head of the Sharaf Foundation for Sustainable Development, Essam Sharaf, participated in the seminar.

Jointly launched by the Chinese Embassy in Egypt and the Sharaf Foundation for Sustainable Development, Get to Know China is a program of virtual meetings that helps deepen the knowledge of China and its activities home and abroad as well as its contribution to revitalizing international cooperation.

During the seminar, Liao said the BRI has provided a new space for the growth of the global economy and built a new platform for international investment and trade.

"It also made a new contribution to enhancing friendship between peoples and improving their well-being, while expanding chances to improve global economic governance," he said.

"The BRI also built a bridge to promote global peace and stability, and became a pathway to shared opportunities and prosperity," the ambassador added.

Since the beginning of this year, Liao said, the BRI has been bucking the trend and achieved a series of satisfactory new positive results, despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economic downturn.

"From January to October 2020, non-financial direct investment by Chinese companies in countries along the BRI routes amounted to 14.1 billion US dollars, an increase of 23.1 percent year on year," Liao said.

During the joint fight against COVID-19 pandemic, BRI partners provided valuable support for China, while China provided medical aid for 122 BRI partners and sent medical teams to 25 countries, according to the Chinese ambassador.

"The pandemic did not reverse the trend of cooperation within the framework of the BRI," Liao said, noting Egypt is one of the first countries that supported and participated in the BRI.

As the most active and fastest-growing investor in Egypt in recent years, China has so far invested more than 7.5 billion dollars in Egypt, he noted.

For his part, Sharaf, who is also a committee member of the Silk Road NGO Cooperation Network, said the BRI reflects the concept of common development adopted by China.

"Accurate identification of the BRI helps us understand China's development mechanisms in the past and future," said the former Egyptian prime minister. "That is why we are holding this program."

In his speech, Wu Hailong said the Silk Road has been a trade route since ancient times, and "still bears the responsibility for deepening mutual understanding and promoting mutually beneficial cooperation between nations."

"So far, 169 countries and international organizations around the world have supported and actively participated in the BRI. The initiative has become a popular global public product for win-win cooperation," Wu noted.