The 3rd Belt and Road Davos Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum
Tsinghua University co-initiated the Belt and Road Davos Forum with the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission (ICC-NDRC) in 2017. This year, the Forum was co-hosted by Tsinghua, ICC-NDRC, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), with the support from Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the co-organizer.
More than 130 people from 23 countries and four international organizations attended the forum, of which 50% were representatives of the business community. The guests commented that the “Belt and Road Initiative” has significantly promoted interconnection and cooperation among the relevant countries, providing precious opportunities for more countries to achieve win-win cooperation. The influence of the Belt and Road Davos Forum in the international community has been significantly improved. Mrs. Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, attended the Forum and delivered an opening remark. Panel speakers included Ms. Olga Algayerova, Under-Secretary-General & Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe; Mr. Luhut B. Pandjaita, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs of Indonesia; Mr. Rosen Plevneliev, former President of the Republic of Bulgaria; Mr. Djoomart Otorbaev, former Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic; Mr. Zlatko Lagumdzija, former Prime Minister of Bosnia & Herzegovina; Mr. Grzegorz W. Kolodko, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Poland; Mr. Darell Leiking, Minister of Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Malaysia; Mr. Ibrahim Al-Omar, Governor of the Saudi Arabian Investment Authority; Mr. Soopakij Chearavanont, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Charoen Pokphand Group Company Limited; Mr.Tadashi Maeda, CEO of Japan Bank for International; Mr. Chui Sai Peng Jose, CEO of Parafuturo de Macau Investment and Development Limited.
President Qiu Yong delivered an opening remark on behalf of Tsinghua University, highlighting the significance of building transnational dialogues and gathering consensus, which was also the spotlight of the 3rd Belt and Road Davos Forum. As President Qiu pointed out, the world today is facing a period of major changes never seen in a century with profound adjustments, when mankind is now embracing a new era. "A just cause should be pursued for the common good". The "Belt and Road Initiative" reflects Chinese vision and wisdom in understanding the world and the willingness to share the benefits of economic development with global partners. “I sincerely hope that our distinguished guests from near and afar will actively participate in the discussion today. I’m also confident that the Belt and Road Davos Forum will become a feast where our ideas and wisdoms can be shared,” said President Qiu.
Ms. Olga Algayerova, Under-Secretary-General & Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) commented that the Chinese government for their commitment to align the Belt and Road initiative to the 2030 agenda is the basis for the cooperation between the United Nations economic commission in Europe, and national development and reform commission in promoting public private partnerships for the success sustainable development goals.
Mr. Rosen Plevneliev, President of the Republic of Bulgaria 2012 – 2017 shared his points of view on Free trade and win-win cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative, he said “Belt and Road initiative was a dream, it was a vision. And now from the day one to today, five years on, we went such an amazing way together and we could see so many pragmatic results coming in on the table.”
Mr. Zhao Kejin, professor of Tsinghua University gave some clarification on Belt and Road initiative. He said it is fundamentally a platform for development and for economic issue. Mentioning global criticism on the initiative, Professor Zhao said we should follow the principle of the high quality of development.
Mr. Tadashi Maeda, CEO of Japan Bank for International mentioned that both Japan and China are the two big economies in Asia. He also put forward some principles for cooperation in Belt and Road initiative, which include transparency, inclusiveness, the rule of the law etc.
Yang Bin, Vice President of Tsinghua University and Executive Dean of the Institute of Global Development, hosted the special closed-door seminar of the Forum. Zhu Min, Chair of the National Institute of Financial Research at Tsinghua University, held the opening ceremony of the Forum. Xue Lan, Dean of the Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University; Pan Qingzhong, Executive Vice Dean of the Schwarzman College, and Tian Wei, the moderator of CGTN, respectively hosted the three panel discussions.
This year’s Belt and Road Davos Forum was hosted with the support of Institute for Global Development at Tsinghua University and the Tsinghua Alumni Association of Switzerland.
The following is the full text of President Qiu's speech at the 3rd Belt and Road Davos Forum:
To Embrace the New Era Together
As we usher in 2019, in the snowy town of Davos, we gather here to chart the future course of global development and the Belt and Road initiative. Founded by Tsinghua University and International Cooperation Center of National Development and Reform Commission of China in 2017, “The Belt and Road Davos Forum” is held for the third time with more participants and ever-increasing influence. This year, we are honored to co-host the forum with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and United Nations Institute for Training and Research. We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for co-organizing this event. On behalf of Tsinghua University, I would like to extend my warmest welcome to the distinguished guests and experts.
The world today is facing a period of major changes never seen in a century with profound adjustments. We are embracing a new era. Driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the world economy will undergo a shift from traditional drivers of growth to new ones, which will trigger adjustments of the global political and economic system, shaping and defining the future of the world at the fundamental level, and will have a far-reaching impact on each country and region.
This year, the theme of the forum is “Building the Belt and Road- Sharing the Benefits of the Economic Globalization”. "As a Chinese saying goes, a just cause should be pursued for the common good." In Chinese, 大道之行也，天下为公. The "Belt and Road Initiative" reflects Chinese vision and wisdom in understanding the world and the willingness to share the benefits of economic development with global partners. Here I would like to share with you some of Tsinghua’s recent progress in this regard. On October 9th last year, we held the ground-breaking ceremony of Tsinghua Southeast Asia Center in Bali island, Indonesia. It will serve the needs of Indonesia and Southeast Asian countries in terms of human capital training in the face of the fourth industrial revolution, and contribute to the Belt and Road initiative and UN SDGs. On December 6th last year, we launched the Tsinghua University Latin America Center in Santiago, Chile. The center will be a base for talent cultivation and promote exchange and cooperation between Latin America and China.
Looking ahead, we are confident to cope with the changes brought forth by the globalization 4.0. Tsinghua University has embarked on a new journey of becoming more open, more innovative and more international. Yesterday, Tsinghua University hosted a session on climate change at Davos. 8 leading global universities participated and signed a joint statement to work on plans for a Global Alliance of Universities on Climate. The alliance will facilitate greater levels of collaboration on climate issues and the promotion of environmental practices by universities.
I sincerely hope that our distinguished guests from near and afar will actively participate in the discussion today. I’m also confident that the Belt and Road Davos Forum will become a feast where our ideas and wisdoms can be shared.
