On March 29, 2023 (GMT +8.00), the opening ceremonies for the Seminar on Monetary and Banking Management for Latin American, Caribbean and South Pacific Countries and the Seminar on Financial Management for Developing Countries hosted by Ministry of Commerce and organized by MOFCOM Training Base for International Business Officials (Shanghai) was held online. Mrs. Liu Beimin (a research fellow from Foreign Economics and Cooperation Division of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce) attended both ceremonies. Mr. Chen Wei (Executive Vice Dean of International Education College of SBS, and Vice Director of the Training Base) and Ms. Dai Ying (Vice Dean of International Education College of SBS and Vice Director of the Training Base) attended the two opening ceremonies respectively.
The world has been evolving with major variations at accelerating paces with widening South-North development gaps. The centurial changes are intertwined with the outbreak of the sudden pandemic, the rise of geopolitical conflicts, the prevalence of unilateralism, high inflation and difficult economic recovery. It is rough to implement the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. President Xi Jinping proposed a global development initiative at the UN General Assembly, contributing Chinese solutions and wisdom to promote the international community to refocus on development issues and solve development challenges. The two Seminars are a pragmatic move to implement China’s external commitments and strengthen exchanges and cooperation among developing countries. They aim to promote exchanges between China and other developing countries in the field of training and boost international development cooperation.
Mrs. Liu Beimin said that by advocating the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, China aims to transcend conflict and confrontation with peaceful development, replace absolute security with common security, discard zero-sum games with mutual benefits, prevent the clash of civilizations with exchange and mutual appreciation, take care of the global home with green development, and conform to the world trend and the will of the people. She hopes that the two Seminars will provide opportunities for China and other developing countries to learn and exchange with each other, play an active role in strengthening cooperation in the fields of monetary and banking management and financial management, and build a bridge of friendship.
Mr. Chen Wei said that the Seminar on Monetary and Banking Management for Latin American, Caribbean and South Pacific Countries is a pragmatic move for China to actively participate in international financial cooperation and a vivid practice to build a community with a shared future for mankind. The Seminar is organized to share China’s experience and achievements in the field of monetary and banking management, bring new inspiration and ideas for the construction of economic and financial order in other countries with China’s solutions, open a new window for China and Latin American, Caribbean and South Pacific countries to complement each other’s advantages, and provide new development opportunities to enhance the well-being of people in each country.
According to Ms. Dai Ying, Shanghai has been committed to building a central node of the domestic circulation and a strategic link of domestic and international dual-circulation. In the rapid development of reform and opening up for more than 40 years, with strong national and local financial support, Shanghai, with the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone at the early stage and the flourishing Shanghai Free Trade Pilot Zone today, has been braving the tide in reform, development and innovation of various industries and fields. All these achievements have benefited from the strong financial support at all levels. Shanghai, as the window of China’s reform and opening up, has achieved positive results in financial administration with the deepening of the reform and opening up. We believe that the experience accumulated in the field in China, including Shanghai, can provide rich and practical resources for this Seminar.
Ms. Edith Castro, an advisor from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, representing the fellow participants of the Seminar on Monetary and Banking Management for Latin American, Caribbean and South Pacific Countries, said that the Seminar would offer the participants an opportunity to learn more about the reforms made by China in developing its financial system, the improvements and changes in the operation and management practices of commercial banks, the current state of the financial market and the risk management, and the internationalization of the RMB.
Mr. Zimbelachew Alemayehu, the participant representative from Ethiopia, expressed his heartfelt thanks to the Chinese government, the Ministry of Commerce and Shanghai Business School. He said that Ethiopia is struggling in managing our financial resources, and this Seminar can help Ethiopian participants to improve the capacity of financial resources management and contribute more wisdom to national construction.
The Seminars will both last 14 days, and include 57 officials from 3 countries (Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela) in the Seminar on Monetary and Banking Management for Latin American, Caribbean and South Pacific Countries and 15 government officials from 9 countries (Cambodia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Uzbekistan) in the Seminar on Financial Management for Developing Countries.
Written by: Liang Bo
Photos by: Ni Haoran
Reviewed by: Chen Wei