Participants at a high-level dialogue marking the fifth anniversary of the Global Development Initiative (GDI), held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Friday, said the initiative has delivered tangible benefits to the world, particularly to developing countries.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the dialogue, highlighting that development is an enduring theme of human society and key to promoting the well-being of humankind.
Participants said the GDI places development high on the agenda and responds to the most pressing and fundamental needs of developing countries, while continuing to deliver results and gain broad support.
Doris Uzoka-Anite, Nigeria's Minister of State for Budget and Economic Planning, expressed appreciation for Xi's vision and support for the initiative. "President Xi Jinping, for his vision for the GDI, for even convening the GDI, for the support that we've gotten so far and for the promise to do even much more for the next five years and beyond. So we thank the president for his vision and for his commitment to supporting the GDI," she said.
"I think that it's very encouraging and I think it embodies what the Chinese government and he [Xi] leading the Chinese government want to do globally. So we appreciate his sentiments and we embrace them," said Kenyeh Barlay, Sierra Leone's Minister of Plan and Economic Development.
Other participants also highlighted Xi's role in launching and advancing the initiative.
"The fifth year of the GDI and therefore a significant milestone. We use the opportunity to thank and we use this opportunity to thank President Xi Jinping for having brought this idea to the General Assembly and launched it and to have brought it into being for the benefit of the developing world," said Kamina Johnson Smith, Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.
"In one word, leadership, his demonstrated leadership, commitment to see this process. So not only did he [Xi] conceive an idea, but he has given leadership to it, and it is really redounding to the benefit of the global community," said Chet Greene, Antigua and Barbuda's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
International observers also said that the series of initiatives put forward by Xi over the past five years have significantly advanced global development and provided guidance for countries working together to build a better world.
"President Xi, as a world leader of a big country, an important country like the People's Republic of China, expressing his direct involvement, and that gives us also trust in that these initiatives, as I said, the Global Development Initiative, the Initiative for Security, the Mutual Benefit Initiative, all of them are an architecture for the new world that we are building together," said Valdrack Jaentschke, Nicaragua's Foreign Minister.
"In my view, the GDI has great practical significance for Kazakhstan, as we not only see China as a key economic and trade partner, but also are continuously strengthening ties in areas such as education, science and technology, and digitalization. In the era of globalization, we need to work together in an effective way," said Bauyrzhan Tleumetov, a professor at Astana International University in Kazakhstan.
First proposed during the general debate of the 76th UN General Assembly in Sept 2021, the GDI anchors six core principles: development as a priority, a people-centered approach, benefits for all, innovation-driven development, harmony between humanity and nature, and results-oriented actions. The framework fully aligns with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Since its launch, China has established more than 30 cooperation mechanisms and platforms, mobilized over 23 billion U.S. dollars through vehicles such as the China-UN Peace and Development Fund and the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund, carried out over 1,800 "small yet smart" livelihood projects, and trained upwards of 200,000 professionals.
Participants hail GDI achievements at fifth-anniversary dialogue
