Ambassador M. Stefanovic participated in the Symposium on High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation (BRI), organized by the Heilongjiang Province People's Government, from 14 to 17. July.

 

At the Symposium, organized on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the BRI and chaired by Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Sun Weidong, attendees exchanged opinions on BRI on the global level, as well as the perspectives of its further development. In addition to Ambassador Stefanović, the symposium was attended by ambassadors of Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Ethiopia, the Resident UN Coordinator, the heads of the various UN agencies, as well as members of the BRI Advisory Board, and the former Prime Minister of Egypt E. Sharaf, former permanent representative of Singapore at the UN K. Mahbubani, Previous Deputy Chairman of the African Union E. Mwencha, representatives of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the new Development Bank,etc.

 

In the introductory presentation, the Vice-Minister Sun Weidong pointed out that China was proud of the results achieved within the BRI, which so far has joined 140 countries and within which over three thousand projects were implemented, worth about one thousand billion USD.  Vice-Minister Sun Weidong also added that the past decade was a period of connection-building, networking and strategic cooperation.

 

Other participants also affirmed the importance of the BRI as global inclusive initiative, which in addition to the great results in strengthening international connectivity, especially in terms of infrastructural development, has the potential to further promote development in other areas as well. 

 

In her address, Ambassador M. Stefanović pointed out the great importance that Serbia attaches to the initiative "Belt and Road", particularly in terms of implementing the projects of infrastructure connectivity, the construction of the railway, highways, etc. She pointed out that Serbia is at significant crossroads along Maritime Silk Road for the 21st century, which traverses from Greece, through North Macedonia, Serbia and the Hungary, and the Chinese-European Express Transport Line, with further connections to Northern Europe. She also elaborated on the importance of the arrival of large Chinese investments in Serbia, which are the result of the greater visibility of Serbia on the investment map of China and the world. In addition to that, she pointed out the potentials in cooperation within the Digital Silk Road, where the IT industry will be one of the most promising sectors of the economy of Serbia, as the Digitization and Artificial Intelligence are among the priorities of our Government. 

 

 

During the visit to Harbin, the symposium participants had separate meetings with the governor of the Province of Heilungjijang Ms. Liang Huiling. In a separate conversation between ambassador Stefanović and Governor Liang mutual interest in strengthening Serbia's cooperation with the Province of Heilungjiang in the field of agriculture, industry and IT was expressed, as well as the importance of cooperation between Harbin and Uzice for further development of the overal relations between our two countries. Moreover, Ambassador Stefanovic invited Ms. Liang to visit Serbia.