From December 5th to 10th, 2019, a delegation of 22 from the Ethiopian Investment Commission came to Shenzhen to participate in the “China-Ethiopia Sustainable Investment Promotion and Exchange Program” training course. This is another important move of Shenzhen to share the experience of China’s economic development and promote the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) after the 19th CPC National Congress. This event is entrusted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and hosted by the Belt and Road Research Institute (Shenzhen) for International Cooperation and Development (BRRI).
At the opening ceremony, Beate Trankmann, UNDP Resident Representative in China, said that with the support of the China-UN Peace and Development Trust Fund, UNDP launched the pilot program of the BRI sustainable investment in Ethiopia this year. The program has been included in the list of achievements of the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. It aims to deepen the cooperation and interaction between the governments and enterprises of China and Ethiopia in sustainable investment by organizing policy dialogue, building cooperation platforms and implementing demonstration projects. And this training course is an integral part of the pilot progam.
BRRI is a private think tank established by Shenzhen University and Wu Xiaolan Charity Foundation. During their trip in Shenzhen, the experts and scholars of BRRI provided a series of lectures for the delegation to learn about the development experience of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ), including sharing SEZ’s successful experience, Shenzhen's reform, opening-up and innovative growth, the development characteristics of Shenzhen's industries and the design and operation of modern industrial parks. The delegation also took a site visit in Shenzhen to see the great achievements of Shenzhen SEZ’s reform and opening-up with their own eyes. During the visit, our Ethiopian friends praised Shenzhen’s economic miracle from time to time by repeatedly saying “China is amazing!”
At the closing ceremony, the Ethiopian delegation leader Gettis spoke highly of this exchange event and said that he benefited a lot, and Ethiopia needed to draw on Shenzhen's successful experience to accelerate its economic development by taking into account its own national conditions. Prof. Tao Yitao, President of BRRI and Yalin Wang, Program Official of UNDP, issued certificates of completion to the delegation members.
A scene of the workshop
Group photo of all attendees in Shenzhen University
