First Meeting of the Advisory Council of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation Concluded with Success

The First Meeting of the Advisory Council of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) was convened on 16-17 December 2018 in Beijing, China. H.E. Mr. Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, attended and addressed the opening ceremony and met with members of the Council. Mr. Le Yucheng, Deputy Foreign Minister of China hosted a welcome dinner for the Council members.

The meeting, chaired by Amb. Zhang Jun, Convenor of the Council, discussed the following topics: 1) Synergies between the Belt and Road Initiative and the 2030 Agenda in promoting world economic growth; 2) Priorities for the Belt and Road cooperation; and 3) Ways forward in strengthening the architecture and capacity building for the Belt and Road cooperation.

Council members spoke highly of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the progress made so far. They shared the view that the BRI cooperation helps to build an open world economy, promote sustainable development, and address global challenges. Council members suggested all parties to stay true to the principle of extensive consultation, joint efforts and shared benefits, and strengthen practical cooperation in all areas with a focus on infrastructure connectivity so as to achieve more early-harvests, contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and promote interconnected and common development. Council members expected the second BRF meeting in 2019 to uphold multilateralism, deepen cooperation, step up institutional development and capacity building and produce more deliverables for win-win results. To that end, constructive proposals and recommendations were put forward.

The BRF Advisory Council is a non-profit international policy advisory body, offering intellectual support to the BRF. Its members include former political leaders and global eminent persons with diverse backgrounds from international organizations, the business community and academia. All members take part in Council activities in their personal capacity. The current members of the BRF Advisory Council are as follows:

1) Romano Prodi, former president of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Italy;

2) Jean-Pierre Raffarin, former Prime Minister of France;

3) Essam Sharaf, former Prime Minister of Egypt;

4) Igor Ivanov, President of Russian International Affairs Council, and former Foreign Minister and former Secretary of the Security Council of Russian Federation;

5) Mari Elka Pangestu, former Minister of Trade and former Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia;

6) Shamshad Akhtar, former Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations;

7) Erastus J.O. Mwencha, former Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission;

8) Douglas Jardine Flint, HM Treasury’s Financial and Professional Services Envoy to the Belt and Road Initiative, United Kingdom;

9) Kishore Mahbubani, former Dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore;

10) Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations (Special Guest of the Advisory Council);

11) Justin Yifu Lin, former Senior Vice President of World Bank and Honorary Dean of National School of Development, Peking University;

12) Zhang Jun, Assistant Foreign Minister of China (Convenor of the Advisory Council).