Diplomat hails China's vital role in Africa

China is expected to play a bigger role in assisting Africa's industrialization efforts as the country keeps making achievements that will benefit all, including the African people, particularly in cutting-edge technologies, a veteran Egyptian diplomat has said.

Maged Refaat Aboulmagd

"China has the capacity, energy and the brain power to help boost industrialization in Africa," Maged Refaat Aboulmagd, an ambassador member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, told China Daily.

He spoke highly of the three proposals made by President Xi Jinping at the China-Africa Leaders' Dialogue last year to support Africa's industrialization, agricultural modernization and talent development.

The proposals outlined China's efforts to support Africa in growing its manufacturing sector, encourage Chinese companies to increase agricultural investment in Africa and help train 10,000 technical personnel with both Chinese language and vocational skills for Africa, among others.

Aboulmagd said the talent training program is of great help in improving the skills of African workers in order to produce more value-added products and create more profits, because most of Africa's exports are raw materials and unprocessed foodstuffs.

Speaking of future China-Africa cooperation, Aboulmagd suggested the two sides explore more cooperation in telecommunications, industrial investment and financial technologies based on mutual understanding and mutual respect.

He also underlined the importance of building bridges to facilitate understanding between Chinese and African people through education, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

As the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will be held in Beijing next month, the Egyptian diplomat said he believes it will be a good platform for China and Africa to make their visions for cooperation become true.

Aboulmagd also commended China's increasing role in promoting global governance reform and development through a series of major initiatives, saying that the international community welcomes more Chinese wisdom and solutions for building a peaceful and prosperous world.

He said that the world today is so different from what it was when he became a diplomat with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in 1988, with challenges in all fields including politics, the economy, the environment and healthcare.

"All these challenges necessitate that we work together," he said in a recent interview, noting that the fact that all economies are closely intertwined makes it important for all countries to find solutions together despite their differences.

Aboulmagd, who has held positions in Belgium, Bahrain, Russia and Nigeria, as well as with the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations, said he is a believer in global governance in the UN system.

"It might have its shortcomings, but the UN system offers an excellent platform to interact with each other, to talk to each other, to exchange views and to find solutions," he said.

Aboulmagd said that BRICS, a grouping of major emerging economies with China being one of its founding members, is a good example showing what China has done to encourage countries with similar views to work together. "Because if we move together, we will have better and heavier weight in the world. So I think it is very commendable," he said.

With the inclusion of Egypt this year, BRICS members now comprise about 46 percent of the world's population and generate more than a quarter of global GDP, according to World Bank figures. Late last month, Malaysia said it had sent an application to Russia, this year's chair, to join BRICS.

Aboulmagd said China's mediation efforts in helping to realize lasting peace and stability in the Middle East are another example of the country's new role in the world.

"I think China should continue with this path," he added.