The UN's Global Digital Compact will likely play a key role in eliminating socioeconomic inequalities, as open-source Artificial Intelligence (AI) has great potential to reduce the digital divide, according to Tawfic Jelassi, the Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at UNESCO.
In an interview with China Global Television Network(CGTN), Jelassi stressed that the compact, proposed by the United Nations Common Agenda and adopted at the UN Summit of the Future in 2024, places the fight against inequality at its heart. "We believe that the adoption of the Global Digital Compact is significant towards ensuring that AI benefits humanity at large while helping to reduce socioeconomic inequalities within and among countries. This is obviously what was stated in the Sustainable Development Goal Number 10, which calls for reducing inequality. So, the compact itself calls the international community to build capacities, especially in developing countries, to access, develop, use and govern AI systems and direct them towards the pursuit of sustainable development," said Jelassi.
While AI has the potential to foster economic growth, he noted, the benefits may not spread evenly if global actors are left to their own devices.
"Artificial Intelligence holds the potential to foster economic growth. The evidence shows that these gains are expected to be concentrated in few leading economies. This is why our work is so far from being finished. The hardest part, actually the implementation is still to be rolled out," he said.
The assistant director-general also warned that AI is a double-edged sword, capable of leveling the global playing field while also introducing hefty risks.
"We believe that open source technologies, especially in the field of AI, have a great potential to reduce the digital divide and also to foster equitable access to technology. UNESCO will continue to support its 194 member states in implementing open solutions for sustainable development including efforts to strengthen data governance mechanisms and remove barriers to open science. And these are aimed at closing the digital, technological and knowledge gaps that exist nowadays. However, open source AI also raises significant concerns such as the irreversibility of release, potential security risks from unsecured models, but also the lack of control over misuse through fine tuning," Jelassi said.
Global Digital Compact key to reducing inequalities among nations: UNESCO official
Foreign diplomats and scholars are looking closely at this year's "two sessions", saying China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) will not only chart the nation's economic and technological priorities but also reshape global value chains.
The fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the nation's top political advisory body, opened on Wednesday, followed by the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Thursday. Together known as the "two sessions," these meetings offer a comprehensive view into China's development priorities.
Global observers emphasized that the 15th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint guiding the nation's economic, social, and technological priorities over the next five years, marks a decisive shift toward high‑quality growth anchored in advanced technologies, with ripple effects across the world.
"The two sessions will discuss China's five-year plan, which is heavily oriented toward China's major technological development. I believe this is important because it represents the new blueprint for China's economy, which is now oriented toward the renowned high-quality development, and this will undoubtedly impact the entire world. I think it is worth studying. This is very important for Latin America. It will help us integrate more intelligently into global value chains and into all aspects of the major development that China is promoting in iconic industrial sectors, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and space development, where Latin America also has much to contribute beyond just commercial growth," said Gustavo Sabino Vaca Narvaja, former Argentine Ambassador to China.
"The two sessions are a major political milestone in China, and this year's gathering carries even greater significance as this year marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. This plan represents not only a blueprint for China, but also a guide for other countries. Instruments like the five-year plan effectively provide greater certainty and predictability for the rest of the world," said Chilean scholar of international relations Ignacio Araya Heredia.
"This is a particularly important date, especially due to the fact that the next Five-Year Plan shall be positioned and we're going to see what its main elements shall be. Serbia, which has a very high degree of steel friendship with the People's Republic of China, can expect further assistance in identifying the most prominent areas of Serbian economy and being helped by its great partner, such as it has been done in the previous period, from one part with establishing the main infrastructure projects, but also reshaping the industrial sector of Serbia, not just Serbia, but the region as a whole," said Veljko Mijuskovic, assistant professor of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade.
Beyond the policy framework, experts also pointed to China's achievements in green energy and technological innovation as models worth emulating.
Tomasz Bielinski, adjunct professor at the University of Gdansk's Faculty of Economics, said the robotics displays at the 2026 China Media Group (CMG) Spring Festival Gala reflected China's broader push in technological innovation.
"I was really impressed about the robotics. I'm very impressed with Chinese development in the technological field, we can still make great deals with Chinese businessmen and we can cooperate together to use this technology for both the good of China and the European Union. I'm aware of the innovation especially in autonomous drive on the on the Chinese side," he said.
"We hope for more of China's economic cooperation, especially in trade and also in investment. Also, and the other focus, if I talk about the focus of the development, don't forget about the green energy. We know that China is great in the electric vehicle field. So because China's electric vehicles in Indonesia nowadays, since couple of years ago, are very, very popular," said Al Busyra Basnur, president of the Indonesia-China Friendship Association.
Observers see China's new five-year plan driving high-quality development, global tech shifts
