What they say

China Daily | Updated: 2019-06-15 07:43

This year is the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the sixth anniversary of the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative. As an important hub of the BRI, Yunnan wants to use the South and Southeast Asia Commodity Expo and Investment Fair as an important stage for promoting the initiative and a crucial platform for regional cooperation. The event is also an important measure in Yunnan's opening-up by showing its efforts in optimizing its investment environment for overseas businesses and helping local enterprises develop in overseas markets.

Zhang Guohua, vice-governor of Yunnan province and head of the executive committee of the event

It has been 20 years since the implementation of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar regional cooperation program. I always feel like I'm coming home when I visit Yunnan. A look back at the two decades shows that friendship, mutual trust and mutual assistance are the essential principles for regional cooperation. We should stick to such principles in the years to come for win-win collaborations. We should combine the regional cooperation issues with our individual national strategies.

Win Zeyar Tun, deputy director-general at the international organization and economic department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar

Sri Lanka has long been an active participant of the South and Southeast Asia Commodity Expo and Investment Fair. Events like this are important for enterprises in Sri Lanka, especially those small and medium-sized enterprises in the tea, jewelry, gem and handicraft industries, because they offer our companies opportunities to promote products and enter the ever-growing Chinese market. They also help Chinese companies to invest in Sri Lanka. In the past several years, Chinese investment in Sri Lanka reached $2.8 billion and the amount in 2018 alone hit $1 billion.

Nalin Bandara Jayamaha, member of the Sri Lankan parliament

China and India have a long history in academic exchanges with mutual visits by scholars. The exchanges have left us with not only deep friendship but also rich cultural legacies. The seventh China-South and Southeast Asia Think Tank Forum, focusing on a community with a shared future between China and South Asia, requires the scholars of all participating countries to reach consensus through exchanges of ideas.

Tarun Vijay, member of the upper house of the Indian parliament