The Progress Report on the Global Development Initiative, which was compiled by the Center for International Knowledge on Development and released on Tuesday, recounted the major efforts and achievements since the GDI’s implementation over a year ago.
The achievements of the GDI featured in the report were acknowledged by personages worldwide. Many of them pointed out how the initiative pools global consensus on development and injects impetus into the realization of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
The GDI focuses on deepening international development cooperation, and is a global public good that is open and inclusive, according to Xaysana Sitthiphone, vice president of the Laos-China Cooperation Committee.
Laos appreciates China’s joint efforts with other countries and multilateral institutions in advancing the GDI, he told Xinhua, adding that the country looks forward to advancing its poverty reduction, education development and other livelihood undertakings through cooperation with China within the GDI framework.
Noting that development knowledge should not be a resource exclusive to individual countries, but should be shared among countries for the benefit of the entire humanity, Assem Hanafi, Egyptian ambassador to China, expressed gratitude to China for sharing development knowledge with other countries.
The ambassador said Egypt firmly believes that the GDI will help countries advance the common cause of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and that the initiative will become a platform for sharing development experience and promoting cooperation among countries.
Proposed by China at the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2021, the GDI was put forward with the hope that countries would work together to overcome the impact of COVID-19 on global development, accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and build a global community of development with a shared future.
At the High-level Dialogue on Global Development in June 2022, the GDI entered the stage of practical cooperation with 32 deliverables detailed, such as the launch of the Digital Literacy and Skills Improvement Initiative, and the promotion of connectivity among customs authorities and other supply chain stakeholders.
As an important international public good provided by China to the world, the GDI corresponds highly with the needs of all parties around the globe, and has won extensive support from the international community since being put forward.
So far, more than 100 countries and international organizations have voiced support for the initiative, with nearly 70 countries joining the Group of Friends of the GDI.
With the concerted efforts of all parties, the initiative has seen an improved cooperation mechanism, the orderly advance of cooperation projects and an enriched project pool, yielding multiple early harvests, said Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.
According to the report, half of the 32 concrete actions proposed in the list of deliverables released in June 2022 have been accomplished or have yielded initial results.
The report also noted that, of the 50 practical cooperation projects included in the first list of the GDI project pool released in September 2022, more than 10 have been completed, while the rest are seeing steady progress.
At present, the total number of projects in the project pool has exceeded 100, benefiting nearly 40 developing countries.
In the past year, the Chinese government organized 1,000 human resource development programs, providing a total of 20,000 training opportunities.
