Roundup: Ambassadors to Croatia voice support to BRI

KORCULA, CROATIA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- At a recent seminar in southern Croatia, ambassadors of Kazakhstan, Indonesia and Malaysia to Croatia hailed the 10th anniversary of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), saying the BRI has brought great benefits to their home country.

"The BRI has become a significant international project and the largest platform for cooperation in the world," said Akylbek Kamaldinov, ambassador of Kazakhstan to Croatia, when addressing the seminar organized by the Chinese embassy on the island of Korcula.

It was in Kazakhstan ten years ago that this "far-reaching" global development strategy was first brought up, Kamaldinov said, noting that Kazakhstan was one of the first countries to actively participate in its promotion.

The 10th BRI anniversary shows that it has received recognition from the world, and has turned into a massive infrastructure and economic initiative to enhance connectivity and foster cooperation among countries across the world, Kamaldinov said.

In the new decade, all the countries participating in the BRI will experience "even greater successes," which will stimulate the development of new mechanisms for regional economic partnership and contribute to maintaining economic prosperity, peace and stability, he said.

Suwartini Wirta, Indonesian ambassador to Croatia, noted that Indonesian President Joko Widodo attended the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing on Oct. 17-18.

Citing that Indonesia's national project of the high-speed railway between Jakarta and Bandung synergized with the BRI and was officially launched early this month, she said, "It is hoped that the BRI will be a solution for the connectivity development and will contribute to the regional peace in order to create common prosperity."

Kennedy Mayong Onon, Malaysian ambassador to Croatia, said BRI's contributions to Malaysia's development and local people's lives have been "truly profound and inspirational." Malaysia will continue to work with China to unlock the potential offered by the BRI towards a more prosperous future, Onon added.

In his key-note speech at the seminar, Qi Qianjin, Chinese ambassador to Croatia, said the past decade has witnessed historic achievements in Belt and Road cooperation as the BRI has benefited over 150 countries in the world and has become the largest international cooperation platform in the world.

The BRI was born in China but its outcomes and opportunities belong to the world, Qi said, adding that China is willing to align the BRI with all countries' connectivity and development strategies in order to give full play to respective advantages and form greater synergy to build an open, inclusive and interconnected world, to jointly promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.