BRI forum to bring closer cooperation for all
Print Edition
The upcoming second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will bring closer cooperation among all participating countries, said a Cambodian minister.
The forum is due to be held in late April in Beijing, and Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen will be among the foreign leaders taking part.
Speaking in an interview with Xinhua ahead of the forum, Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said there is no doubt that the forum would bring a lot of benefits to all countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Cambodia. “The BRI forum will further promote cooperation between China and ASEAN and between China and Cambodia,” he said.
The minister said all countries participating in the BRI cooperation are benefiting from the initiative in the areas of infrastructure, agriculture, capacity building, special economic zone development, culture and tourism, finance, and eco-environmental protection.
“For Cambodia, with Chinese assistance, we can build mega-infrastructure projects, and those projects are crucial to boosting economic growth and making communication easier and faster,” he said.
The BRI, a reference to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was initiated by China in 2013 with the aim of building a trade, investment, and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.
Cambodia and China have been working together to promote cooperation under the BRI and Cambodia’s Rectangular Strategy.
Kanharith said Cambodia’s Rectangular Strategy gave priority to four key sectors — human resources, roads, water and power.
Equal footing
“Our first priority is to boost economic growth and to let everybody have a fair share of that growth,” he said. “The BRI can help us through supporting infrastructure projects and human resources development.”
On Cambodia-China relations, the minister was optimistic that ties would be further deepened in all fields in the 60 years following the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2018.
He said the government and people of Cambodia were very grateful to China for constantly supporting the country’s socio-economic development.
“China has assisted us on an equal footing, meaning that although China is a big country and Cambodia is a small country, China always treats us equally,” Kanharith said. “With Chinese support, Cambodia has gained confidence in ourselves and our people are proud and confident in rebuilding the country.”
“After the 60th anniversary of Cambodia-China relationship, I’m sure that we will continue to prosper together and continue to provide mutual help for mutual interest,” he said.
The authors are Xinhua writers.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
