On the evening (19:30~21:30) of November 26, 2020 Beijing time, the “Belt and Road Initiative”: Online Seminar on New Spaces for Sino-Uruguayan Cooperation (China), co-sponsored by Shanghai Business School (SBS), Paysandu Research Center in Uruguay and ICBC Foundation (Argentina), was successfully held. Speeches were presented by He Ying, Vice President of SBS; Mauricio Papa, General Manager of Uruguay Eastern Coast Co., Ltd.; and Zhou Quan, Economic and Commercial Counselor of Chinese Embassy in Uruguay. Online participants of the seminar also included Rodriguez, Director of Paysandu Research Center in Uruguay; Emma Fontanette, General Manager of the International Cooperation Department of ICBC Foundation (Argentina); Fu Jiandong, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Continuing Education of SBS; and some trainees from Latin American countries and Spanish-speaking countries who had taken part in our foreign-aid training programs in previous years. The seminar was directed by Chen Wei, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Continuing Education and Martin Piovano Andriot, General Manager of the International Cooperation Department of Paysandu Research Center and trainee of the “2018 Seminar on Trade and Investment in Latin American and Caribbean countries (Spanish)”.

He Ying first introduced the education orientation and philosophy of SBS, the situations of the Academy for International Business Officials (AIBO) under MOFCOM (Shanghai), and, in particular, the work achievements of the base in trainee surveys and follow-up visits. Then, in combination with the work progress of SBS and the base and her areas of expertise, she explored the possible new spaces for Sino-Uruguayan cooperation in the future from five aspects, i.e., identifying training demands, innovating training courses, promoting economic and trade cooperation, facilitating educational cooperation, and boosting think tank cooperation. She expressed the wishes that the parties concerned would seize new development opportunities in this historical stage to broaden existing development spaces and undertake new missions; and that related departments in China and Uruguay would reach more consensuses in economy, trade, education, and training fields, and join hands in promoting the high-quality development of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, carrying their cooperation forward, and creating new development spaces.

Mauricio Papa gave an introduction to the geological location, population, regime, characteristics, and advantages of Uruguay, and said that Uruguay had always been a stable, trustworthy, and safe country coming out top among Southern American countries in terms of living quality, transparency, democracy index, information connectivity, etc. He also shared his views about how to conduct economic and trade exchanges with Uruguay, and introduced the development of bonded areas there. According to him, the flexible mechanisms of bonded areas in Uruguay will create great conveniences and preferences (especially tax preferences) for investors from all over the world.

Zhou Quan thanked SBS and our foreign-aid training base for the substantial support to the Economic and Commercial Counselor’s office of Chinese Embassy in Uruguay, and recognized the contributions of our foreign-aid training work in establishing friendly exchanges between the two peoples and clarifying relevant policies under the “Belt and Road Initiative”. He also elaborated on the concept, core, principles, and contents of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, and said that building the “Belt and Road Initiative” not only conformed to the requirements of world multipolarization and economic globalization but also represented an active exploration of new patterns of international cooperation and global governance. He pointed out that, notwithstanding the longest distance, the two countries had a deep-rooted relationship. In August 2018, Uruguay signed a memorandum of understanding for jointly building the “Belt and Road Initiative” with China, and became the first Mercosur country to sign such a document with China. In the end, he added that the “Belt and Road Initiative” framework would produce great potentials and bright prospects for Sino-Uruguayan cooperation, and expressed his hope that SBS, Paysandu Research Center, ICBC Foundation, and other related enterprises would further cooperate with each other to advance the “Belt and Road Initiative”.

This online seminar represented innovations and breakthroughs achieved by the foreign-aid training base of SBS in promoting post-training exchange and cooperation. It not only enhanced mutual understanding, but also laid a solid foundation for the “Belt and Road Initiative”: Online Seminar on New Spaces for Sino-Uruguayan Cooperation (Uruguay) and follow-up exchange and cooperation.

Writer: Zhou Dejiang

Photographer: Chen Xiaoye

Reviewer: Chen Wei

Executive Editor: Tang Xinhui