The 2022 International Forum on South-South Cooperation and Trade in Services (the Forum) took place at China National Convention Center in Beijing on 3rd September. Under the theme of “Shaping a Global Greener Future Through South-South Technical Cooperation”, the Forum aims to deepen the understanding of the role and impact of technical cooperation on accelerating the South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTrC), optimize the patterns and pathways of SSTrC, and scale up the efforts to shape a global greener future with the principle of inclusivity and leaving no one behind.
The Forum featured an agenda consisting of Opening Remarks, Keynote Speeches, Panel Discussion, and Promotion and Launch Event. This hybrid event was attended by more than 600 participants from 31 countries, including representatives from government agencies, foreign embassies in China, international organizations, research institutes, academia, civil society organizations, business community, and private sector, etc.
Present at the Opening Ceremony were Mr. QIAN Keming, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM); Prof. BAI Chunli, President of the Alliance of International Science Organziations (ANSO); Ms. CHEN Jun, Vice Chair of Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Ms. Xiaojun Grace Wang, Trust Fund Director of UNOSSC; Mr. Munir Akram, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations and Chair of the Group 77; and Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee, the UN Resident Coordinator in China. All of they delivered their warm welcome to all the participants and sincere thanks to the organizers and sponsors in the opening remarks.
After the openning, the keynote speeches were delivered by Ms. Beate Trankmann, Resident Representative of UNDP China; Mr. Bishnu Pukar Shrestha, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Embassy of Nepal in Beijing, China; Prof. ZHU Yongguan, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Prof. LI Xiaoyun, Honorary Dean of CIDGA/CISSCA of China Agricultural University; and Dr. Shamika N. Sirimanne, Director of Division on Technology and Logistics, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). From different perspectives of the UN agencies, developing countries, and research institutes, the keynote speakers expounded the significant roles of SSTrC in reducing the North-South technology gaps and promoting green development, and shared relevant good practices and success stories.
The following Panel Discussion session, centered on how to bridge the technical divide and promote sustainable development through South-South cooperation, brought together Dr. Stephen Bainous Kargbo, UNIDO Representative and Head of Regional Office (China, DPR Korea, Mongolia); Prof. CAO Jinghua, Executive Director of ANSO Secretariat; Dr. HUANG Jing, Director General of the Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21 (ACCA21), the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China; Prof. YANG Min, Deputy Director of the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Dr. WANG Yong, Vice President of China-Africa Development Fund.
At the Promotion and Launch Event were showcased a series of achievements made through the cooperation. These achievements include: the “Two Zones” Development in Beijing, the Video of Catalyzing Technical Collaboration Through South-South Cooperation, the ANSO SDG Report: Poverty Alleviation Supported by Science and Technology, the Comparative Research Report on the Localized Performance Indicator Systems of the International Guidelines for Industrial Parks in China, Drinking Water Safety and Security Technologies for Developing Countries, and Green Biomanufacturing & Sustainable Development – TIBCAS’s Vision and Action.
Held for the second year in a row during the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), the Forum featuring South-South cooperation was co-organized by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE), and the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO). It was supported by a number of organizations, including the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office in China (UN RCO), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization（UNIDO), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the College of International Development and Global Agriculture (CIDGA) and the China Institute for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture (CISSCA) of China Agricultural University, China South-South Cooperation Network, and Global South-South Development Center Project.
