On 17 October 2023, the New Vision run an article by Mr. Fan Xuecheng, Charge d'Affairs ad interim of the Chinese Embassy in Uganda, on the Belt and Road Initiative, full texts of which are as follows:
In a visionary move, in 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the initiative of constructing the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. Abbreviated as Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the two proposals carry forward the spirit of the ancient silk routes from China to Southeast and Middle Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America respectively through inner land and over seas– two of the great achievements in human history for civilization exchanges. It enriches the ancient spirit with the zeitgeist and culture of the new era, and provides a platform for building a global community of shared future.
Days later on 17-18 October, the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing comes together with the commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of BRI's inception, where H.E. President Xi Jinping will deliver important speech in retrospection of the first decade of BRI and navigate it to new waters. The BRI, which is incepted by China but benefits the whole world with principles of comprehensive consultation, joint contribution, shared benefits, has championed a drive for facility connectivity, trade facilitation, financial integrity, and people to people amity, which has delivered real benefits to the world and the peoples of BRI countries.
First, The BRI fast-tracks global development in a fluctuating international landscape. Development holds the master key to solving all problems and is a timeless theme for humanity. The BRI, focusing on development which best serves the common interests of all countries, has provided a platform for development with great inclusiveness, and promoted the common development and prosperity of all countries around the world.
From 2013 to 2022, the total value of China’s trade in goods with key Belt and Road partner countries grew at an average annual rate of 8.6 percent, and the two-way investment exceeded USD 270 billion. Newly signed contracts of projects worth over USD 1.2 trillion, and an array of infrastructure projects including roads, bridges and ports have come into commission, further promoting land, maritime, air and cyberspace connectivity.
In additional to the 200 BRI agreements with 152 countries and 32 international organizations that China has signed, an increasing number of countries have reached out to China for more BRI engagements. The World Bank estimates that by 2030, Belt and Road cooperation will bring an annual benefit of USD 1.6 trillion to the world, accounting for 1.3 percent of the global GDP and injecting strong impetus into global development.
Second, the BRI explores a new vision for economic globalization. The BRI cooperation is not a solo dance, but a global public good for all. In recent years, driven primarily by their self-interests, some Western developed countries have intensified protectionism, posing significant challenges to economic globalization. Consequently, many countries especially developing ones, find themselves at risk of missing out on the benefits of globalization and economic and social progress. These predicaments are going worsened with the recent ignition of the Palestine-Israel conflict and Ukrainian Crisis, when the world calls for peace and development in unprecedented urgency.
The BRI has actively embraced true multilateralism, with all partners steadfastly uphold the role of pushing forward economic globalization, promoting trade and investment liberalization, facilitating bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation, enhancing international policy coordination, collectively creating an international environment conducive to development, and most importantly firmly safeguard global supply and productivity chains, so as to nurture new engines of global growth, and support developing countries.
Third, the BRI has specially prioritized Africa high among her cooperative partners. China has provided a large amount of development assistances to Africa and helped build more than 6,000 kilometers of railway, over 6,000 kilometer of highway, and 80-plus large power facilities on the continent, and more than 130 hospitals and 170 schools. 420,000 jobs would be created for the African along major infrastructure projects, lifting 40 million population out of poverty.
Under the BRI, China-Uganda practical cooperation has weathered through global uncertainties with strong impetus, with spectrum spans over bilateral trade and investment, infrastructure, health and education, capacity building as well as modern agriculture.
Just to mention a few, our bilateral trade volume in 2022 amounts 1.13 billion USD, a 6.6% year on year growth. China's direct investment to Uganda reached 131 million USD in 2022, tops No.10 in Africa. Both sides have signed and enforced AEO mutual recognition arrangement, thus authorized economic operators from each side be accorded preferential policies at customs clearances.
Infrastructure developments like the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway, both the Isimba and Karuma hydropower plants, the Kingfisher oil field rigs and etc, have not only transformed the skyline of Uganda as that of a robust growing economy, but also empowered Uganda for sustainable development. For example, the Kampala-Entebbe Expressway has helped Uganda to make an income of 34 billion Shillings in 2022 alone.
The Chinese medical team has marked its 40th Anniversary being dispatched to Uganda, where they treated millions of patients. Over 6000 Ugandans have attended workshops and seminars for capacity building since 2016. The ongoing third phase of China-FAO-Uganda South-South cooperation agricultural project will directly benefit more than 9,600 local farmers, with 3000 women included. The fruitful list of China-Uganda BRI outcomes is still in steady expansion.
Although challenged by specific western vilifications , the BRI definitely commands wide supports from majority countries and reflects on trend of deeper globalization, easier trade exchanges, and closer people to people connection. We believe with the fresh impetus of the 3rd BRI Forum, the initiative will maximize its role in global development governance and offer more development opportunities all over the world.