The session was moderated by ZAFAR Uddin Mahmood, Policy Advisor to the SG,Press Secretary of BFA. Surakiart SATHIRATHAI, Member of BFA Board of Directors, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand; Yasoja GUNASEKERA, Additional Secretary of Foreign Affair of Sri Lanka, as well as LEONG Vai Tac, Chairman of BFA Macao Committee for Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development, engaged in discussions on the Belt and Road Initiative.
Yasoja GUNASEKERA emphasized that shared development is a very important field in the 21st century. By sharing technological achievements through the Belt and Road Initiative, the existing world system can be transformed, enabling everyone to address the climate change crisis. She believes that technology can engage everyone in action, further promoting innovation, and leading the world towards a more peaceful and prosperous future, making greater contributions to human development.LEONG Vai Tac stated that the original intention of technological innovation is to create a better life for humanity. The purpose of the Belt and Road Initiative is to build a larger community with a shared future among nations. It is necessary to consider how to contribute technological achievements through the Belt and Road Initiative. He emphasized that protecting the interests of other countries is the key to realizing contributions from technological achievements. Technological innovation ultimately aims to benefit humanity, and technological contributions need to balance development and security, as well as breakthroughs and ethical considerations. Surakiart SATHIRATHAI expressed agreement with the viewpoints of the previous two speakers and pointed out that technological innovation should cover all aspects of connectivity. It is also necessary to ensure that connectivity is smooth and secure in the Belt and Road Initiative. Additionally, science and technology can be leveraged for disaster prevention to ensure the safety of connectivity in the Belt and Road Initiative.ZAFAR Uddin Mahmood believed that although countries along the Belt and Road Initiative have different social, economic, cultural, and religious backgrounds, and are at different stages of development, the spirit behind the initiative is to achieve shared prosperity for humanity. Therefore, it is necessary to use technology and innovation to realize this shared prosperity for humanity.
The Belt and Road Initiative is not only about policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, financial integration, and people-to-people exchanges, but also provides new opportunities and spaces for scientific and technological cooperation among countries along the route. Many countries along the Belt and Road are developing countries and emerging economies, with many of them still having incomplete industrial systems. Scientific and technological innovation cooperation plays a crucial role in improving their industrial systems and promoting national economic development.2023 marks the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. The panelists at the conference shared beneficial attempts and successful practices in scientific and technological cooperation and the establishment of an innovative community. They pointed out the challenges and proposed solutions for sharing scientific and technological innovations in the Belt and Road, making contributions to the future development of the Belt and Road and the promotion of the sharing of scientific and technological achievements.
