Iamveryexcitedtosee the photoofyourself handinhandwithChina’sFirst
LadyMadamPengLiyuaninXiamenduringthe BRICS Summit4-5September
2017forawardingUNESCOGirls& Women'sEducationPrize.
I watchedthe culturalgalaoftheBRICSSummitonCCTVandwasvery
impressedthatChinaPresidentXiJinpingandFirstLadyPengLiyuanstretched
outtoshakehandswithyou.Youwere theonlyoneonthesecondrowofVIPs
thattheyshookhandswith.
Thereislittle doubtthatyour relationswiththe Chinesetopleadersisexcellent
at bothofficialandpersonallevel.
theChineseleadershipforUNESCOtoproactivelyadvancetheeconomicand
socialdevelopmentofthedevelopingworldthroughthevisionary“OneBelt
OneRoad”(OBOR)Initiative.
ThoughOBORisChina’scontributiontothedevelopingworld,OBORisnow
co-ownedbyover100Southcountries,developedcountries,intergovernmental
agenciesandnon-governmentorganisations.I termOBORthesignatureagenda
fortheworld’sfirstDevelopmentRevolution.IfOBORsucceeds,theUN
SDGswillsucceedforSouthcountries.
Youwill recallIwrotetoyouon7October2015aboutstrengthening
UNESCO/China relationsonSouth-SouthCooperation.The exchangeof
correspondenceisinANNEXNo1foreaseofreference.
ThoughI amnotawareofanydevelopmentonmy2015suggestion,I havenot
beenidle.ISTIC hassignedMOUswithtwosister UNESCOCategory2
CentresinChina,namelytheInternationalKnowledgeCentreforEngineering,
ScienceandTechnology(IKCEST)andthe InternationalCentreforEngineering
Education.
Above all,theAcademyofEngineeringandTechnologyoftheDeveloping
World(AETDEW)whosesecretariatisISTIC hasbeenactivelypromotingthe
humanresourcescapacitydevelopmentunder theOBOR Initiative.Withthe
helpofAETDEWFellowsinChina,AETDEWmetwiththeInternational
CooperationCentreofChinaNationalDevelopmentandReformCommission
(ICC-NDRC)on4July2017inBeijing.Besidesmyself,AETDEWwas
representedbyAETDEWCouncilmembers,Dr.EltayebMustafaofSudanand
Professor ManzoorSoomroofPakistan.AETDEW’sofferofthenetworksof
our150Fellowsthroughoutthedevelopingworldfor OBORhumanresources
capacitydevelopmentprogramswasverywellreceivedbyICC-NDRC.The
proposaltosignaMOUbetweenICC/NDRCandAETDEWwasmooted.
IwillbeinBeijingon25September2017tomeetICC-NDRCagainto
progresstheMOUandtodiscussgenuinecollaborationprojects,namelythe
settingupofOBORMaintenanceofInfrastructureTrainingCentresinOBOR
countries,startingwith"proofofconcepttrainingcentres"inPakistan,
Myanmar,Sudan,Nigeria,KenyaandMalaysiain2018.ISTICalsooffertobe
thecoordinating centre for all ICC-NDRCcollaborativeprojects.Iattachthe
exchangeofcorrespondencebetweenAETDEWwithICC-NDRCinANNEX
No.2.
2
I alsoattachtheproposedMOUinANNEXNo.3.The projectsenvisagedin
theMOUandlistedbelowarethepriorityagendasuccessfullycarriedout
byISTICsinceitsestablishmentin2008.
”(1)“OneBeltOneRoadFusionofCivilizations”curriculumdesignfor
schoolsalong“OneBeltOneRoad(OBOR)”countries;
(2)MaintenanceandRepairofInfrastructuretrainingforOBORengineersand
technicians;
(3)TechnopreneurtrainingforinnovatorsforpromotionofSMEsinOBOR
countries;
(4)Accreditationofengineeringcoursestointernationalstandardsand
certificationofengineersandtechniciansinOBORcountriesleadingto
mobilityofengineersandtechniciansinOBORcountries;
(5)Distance learningandremote trainingviaInternetforhumancapital
developmentindigitalskillsandtechnologiesinOBORcountries;and
(6)Anyothercooperationprogramsmutuallyagreed.”
The above projectsareconsonantwithChinaPresidentXiJinping’svisionand
missioninhisspeechduringtheopeningoftheOBORSummitForum14May
2017:
•WeshouldbuildtheBeltandRoadintoaRoadforPeace;
•WeshouldbuildtheBeltandRoadintoaRoadofProsperity;
•WeshouldbuildtheBeltandRoadintoaRoadofOpeningUp;
•WeshouldbuildtheBeltandRoadintoaRoadofInnovation;
•WeshouldbuildtheBeltandRoadintoaRoadconnectingDifferent
Civilizations.
I wouldliketoreiterate thatOBORisthecommondevelopmentagendaofthe
world,especiallythedevelopingworld.Itsall-embracingagendaisalsothe
agendaofUNESCOineducation,science,culture andcommunicationsin
fulfilmentofUNESCOvisionand missionfor worldpeace.
I attachbelowwhatChinahas committedinresourcesforOBOR.Ibelieve
ChinawouldneedtheadviceandassistanceofUNESCOandherextensive
networksand centreslike ISTICtoassure the resourcescommitted toOBOR
willbear the proper fruits expeditiously.
DirectorGeneral’sOffice.ISTICandAETDEWstandreadytoassistin
whatever wayrequired.
WithKindestRegards
