On the morning of July 12, the opening ceremony of the 2023 seminar on high-quality development of marine economy was held in Xiamen. Zhong Haidong, Deputy Director of the China International Development Cooperation Agency, Kenzo, Minister of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations（Myanmar）, and Huang Wenhui, Mayor of Xiamen, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. 30 government officials from 26 countries including Brazil, Venezuela and Nigeria will start an 8-day seminar in Xiamen.

The seminar is an international training project designed by the Innovation Training Base of Global Development Promotion Center in conjunction with the Office of Xiamen Leading Group for BRICS PartNIR Innovation Center. At the same time, it is the first offline training program of the Innovation Training Base and was released in the high-level theme promotion activity of the Global Development Initiative held at UN Headquarters, and received the attention from the countries of “the Group of Friends of the GDI”.

This year marks the full implementation of the Global Development Initiative and the mid-term evaluation year of the UN sustainable development goals. At the opening ceremony, Zhong Haidong said that the Global Development Initiative is a practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind., which has been widely responded by the international community for more than a year. We are willing to take the base as a window, cooperate with all parties to provide a platform for developing countries to exchange experience, promote the Global Development Initiative and further deepen the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2023.

Kenzo said that Myanmar has many coastal and marine ecosystems and resources, demonstrating potential in developing the marine economy. The seminar provided a very timely and important communication platform for discussing the development of marine economy. He emphasized that shared benefit is very important for the marine economy which should take the development gap and technological development of countries into account.

After  the Innovation Training Base of Global Development Promotion Center was unveiled in Xiamen in January this year, under the careful guidance of national ministries and commissions such as theChina International Development Cooperation Agency, and Fujian Provincial Party Committee and the provincial government, Xiamen focused on key areas of  Global Development Initiative, built the base with high standards, and deepen the cooperation between BRICS countries and BRICS+. Huang Wenhui, Mayor of Xiamen, said that in the next step, Xiamen will rely on the BRICS PartNIR Innovation Center and the Innovation Training Base of Global Development Promotion Center to launch new training programs on topics of global development, such as industrial internet and rural revitalization. Everyone is welcome to actively register and seek common development.

“Care about the ocean, know the ocean, and manage the ocean.” Fujian is a major marine and fishery province with a total marine output nearly RMB 1.2 trillion last year, marking the per capita possession and export volume of aquatic products rank first in China. This seminar will invite well-known experts from universities and institutions to give special lectures based on Fujian high-quality development advantages and experience.

In addition, this seminar will also arrange field visits. Students will go to major institutions and companies to experience the marine economic development in person. What’s more, an exchange seminar is set up, during which students from various countries can speak freely, share the current situation of fishery economic development and explore the sustainable development strategy.

At the opening ceremony, many students expressed their expectations for this seminar. They came to China to study with goals, hoping to return with gains. Osakpamwan Wellington Omoragbon, director of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria, who attended the seminar, said that China is a country with a developed marine economy. It is great to learn knowledge about marine economy here and bring China’s experience back and promote the development of Nigeria’s marine economy, and looking forward to further cooperation between the two countries in marine-related industries in the future. Muneer Ahmed, director of Gwadar Port Authority of Pakistan, believes that this seminar is a good opportunity to learn from China’s innovative experience in the marine field. He hopes to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to share the marine economic dividend.