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The Round Table Forum for Diplomats of African Embassies held in Beijing

发布时间:2017-10-20

The Round Table Forum for Diplomats of African Embassies in China was held on October 16th, 2017 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beijing. The discussion forum was jointly hosted by China Overseas Development Association and Jiang Tai International Associates.

Backdrop

The forum intended to introduce three upcoming investment platforms - 9th China Overseas Investment Fair (COIFAIR), China Enterprises Going Global Risk Conference, and the UTOU Unique Investment Services Platform - and to jointly explore ways of capitalizing on these upcoming events, as well as measures to boost outward investment of Chinese companies.

 

The Round Table Forum was attended by diplomats and representatives from African embassies and institutions. Officials from resident embassies’ diplomats included those from Algeria, Angola, Chad, Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Kenya, Lesotho, Morocco, Niger, Sudan, and Togo. And representatives frominstitutions such as CHINAOIL(USA) INC and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Indian Ocean Island Foundation also attended the forum.

Mr. Shen Kaitao, Chairman of Jiang Tai International Associates, kicked off the discussion forum by welcoming all guests and delegates. Mr. He Zhenwei, Secretary General of CODA, delivered a keynote speech afterwards in which he asserted the importance of outbound Chinese investment for regional economic prosperity and sustainability. He also expressed his strong support for bilateral business cooperation, by both the private and public sectors, with China as a means of renewed economic growth in the region. The speech was ended by introducing the 9th COIFAIR and inviting the delegates to participate in the event, which will be held on Nov. 21st - 22nd at China National Convention Center in Beijing.

The subsequent interactive discussion was occupied by lively discussion between delegates and hosts, Mr. He Zhenwei and Shen Kaitao, who answered a few questions and concerns posed by representatives from embassies, particularly those from Algeria, Lesotho, Gabon, Chad, Kenya, and Morocco respectfully. For instance, Chad raised a concern on what should they do to attract Chinese investors and how long will it take since China and Chinese enterprises have rarely chosen Chad or come to Chad for investment. While Morocco talked about Trilateral cooperation on new energy among China, Africa and Europe and Kenya insisted on the same point that there is no enough energy in many African countries.

China Overseas Development Association(CODA) responded and solved amicably that they will stand and help Africa in introducing new energy, including solar power to make sure that the bilateral and multilateral investment cooperation between Africa and China continues to grow. Sudan requested to know onhow to link projects to Chinese enterprises and if they do provide a ranking for companies and entreprises in china in order to help them choose the best investors and lastly Lesotho talked about agriculture and how they can access the Chinese market and sell their products and this concerns were handled and resolved amicably by CODA and they stated clearly that China enterprises can invest in Africa first so that they can get access to the Chinese investors then they can sell their products to China through this chain  because Chinese enterprises know Chinese market very well. However, all delegates showed interest and appreciation for regional investment cooperation, welcoming COIFAIR as an important means of realizing the “Going Out” of Chinese companies and an important step in the success of the Belt and Road initiative

 

At the end of discussion, all delegates expressed their thanks to the hosts and showed their enthusiasm to participate in the upcoming events in order to promote international economic cooperation.