My name is Paheja Siririka. I am a journalist from Namibia.
This is my first time in China. I was so fortunate to be part of the Two Sessions. I was fortunate to have conversations with Chinese journalists and Chinese lawmakers. When it comes to development, it is important to have people at the center of everything. This is something that should be replicated all over the world. The policies that have frame to govern the country should always be centered on the people. It's the only way you are able to address issues, because these are the issues that are affecting people, unemployment, health, agriculture. If you are not framing policies that are catering to the people, then you are failing as a nation. That's really something impressive that I noticed.
The Belt and Road Initiative is a very good initiative by the Chinese government because it is covering a lot of aspects, development, infrastructure, roads. This is also a way of a lot of countries working together because it's a channel. It's a channel of communication, is the exchange of goods. I think it's going to go a long way in improving the livelihoods of a lot of nations in the world.
It's very important for us to realize the impact of such initiatives between two states, such as China and Namibia. It is reassuring Namibia is willing to work hand in hand with China. That's how the BRI is benefiting China in a lot of ways, as well as Namibia. Having mentioned that there are a lot of construction projects that are happening in Namibia, it's all about fostering relationships. It's strengthening bilateral relations, whether it is in the field of agriculture, whether it’s in the field of infrastructure, construction, the mining sector, whatever the case may be. So, there are a lot of interesting roles that this can play in the bilateral relations of the two states.
I wish the relationship to continue to be stronger, because we come a long way. We're talking about 33 years of cooperation. I wish the existing relations to continue yielding good results. I wish the exchange of goods and products to continue on a larger scale in the near future, and for the current leaders to continue working together and just to ensure that there is progress, because we all have one goal: to take people out of poverty, to ensure that they have jobs, to ensure that they have access to health care. There's a lot of work that needs to be done, and it can only work if the bonds are stronger.
