Arab official says Belt and Road Initiative will help address poverty

Doureid Yaghi, vice-president of the Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon, talks in an interview in Yinchuan on Friday. Photo by Wang Qingyun/China Daily

An Arab political party official said he hopes the Belt and Road Initiative will help Arab countries address poverty, which he said is one of the causes for terrorism.

Doureid Yaghi, vice-president of the Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon, made the remark in an interview on Friday while attending a dialogue between Chinese and Arab political parties in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

He emphasized that poverty is not the only cause for terrorism, but acknowledged that some people in Arab countries are not able to enjoy the most basic rights, such as the right to the necessities for life and the right to work.

The Belt and Road Initiative, he said, can be "a good beginning" that will help Arab countries develop their economies, and it needs all Arab countries along its route to participate.

"It's not only a Silk Road. It's also a road to the future, to development and to seeking happiness for people. Though political parties in Arab countries have different political views, they all believe that China's Belt and Road Initiative is one based on brotherhood and mutual benefit," he said, adding that Arab countries can offer what China needs.

However, continued turbulence in the Middle East seems to have served as a hindrance to carrying out the Initiative in the region.

China has started to play a more active role in addressing the region's issues, the latest example being the appointment of a special envoy to Syria and dispatching him to Geneva to facilitate talks.

Yaghi praised China's efforts to peacefully solve the Syrian issue, saying that China's foreign policies "do not suppress or intervene in other countries, and respect the will of the people in other countries".