(BRF2023) World leaders, officials hold bigger expectations for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation

BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- World leaders and officials speak highly of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), hailing its achievements and pledging to further promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation in the future.

"One who delivers roses to others will have fragrance on his hands" shows the nature of the China-proposed initiative, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday.

On the future of the high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, Vucic said, "we used to have great expectations. Today, I can say that we can have even bigger expectations."

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Wednesday that the initiative has created favorable development conditions for Global South countries.

In the past 10 years, the BRI has been connecting the world for common prosperity, through both people-to-people bonds and infrastructure building, Hun Manet said.

The BRI has created favorable development conditions for Global South countries, including Cambodia. The initiative has improved infrastructure, attracted foreign direct investment, driven economic growth, accelerated regional and global integration, and boosted people-to-people exchanges, Hun Manet said, commending China's leadership in the initiative.

Chile highly values and recognizes the BRI as an ambitious initiative that has significantly boosted connectivity among partner countries over the past decade, said Chilean President Gabriel Boric on Wednesday.

Boric believes that in the future, the BRI will promote peace and solidarity among people of all countries, just as the historic Silk Road did, and will exert a deeper cultural significance.

President of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, said on Wednesday that the BRI has greatly improved the infrastructure in the African continent and promoted the construction of the African continent's free trade area.

All cooperation projects under the BRI, from railways, roads and reservoirs to agricultural mechanization and optical cable laying, are crucial to the development of Africa, he said.

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on Wednesday that Uzbekistan is ready to further deepen green cooperation with Belt and Road partner countries to create a green future for mankind, noting that the joint construction of the Belt and Road has drawn global participation and has become a new model of international cooperation.

The BRI, he said, has become an open and inclusive platform to promote international mutual trust, which is particularly important in the current complex geopolitical situation.

Uzbekistan will continue to promote the accomplishment of the main goals and tasks under the framework of the initiative, he said.

The BRI can advance renewable energy adoption across the Global South countries, said Damilola Ogunbiyi, special representative of the UN secretary-general for sustainable energy for all, on Wednesday.

"The BRI has opened new paths for all humanity, and we have seen its significant impacts on emerging economies and developing nations," she said.

Ogunbiyi noted that the concept of the Green Silk Road has set up various guidelines and partnership agreements with participating countries.

"For me what has made the BRI transform itself to a greener and more sustainable initiative is the introduction of the Green Silk Road as a key pillar of the BRI," she said.