Editor: Zhang Dan 丨CCTV.com
05-23-2015 15:21 BJT
By Jose Carlos Feliciano, co-founder, director, Seed International China
Editor’s note
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pays official visits to Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Chile from May 18 to May 26. It is the first time that Li has set foot on the continent as premier and his four-nation tour has drawn wide attention from home and abroad.
What benefits will Li’s visit bring to the continent? What do people of the four nations expect from Li’s visit? At the invitation of CNTV’s opinion column Panview, a group of young entrepreneurs and students from the four nations share their views on cooperation with China and provide suggestions for further development of China-Latin America relations.
Currently I work in China as an entrepreneur in the educational field. Over the last four years, I have been organizing programs, training and events for international businesspeople, mainly from Latin America, in order for them to know more about China, identify cooperation opportunities and increase common understanding between our countries.
Due to the distance and cultural differences including language, it’s very difficult for most Latin American citizens to come to China and look for business opportunities on their own. They need an integrated knowledge and experience that includes the academic part focusing on the Chinese economy and history for example, the business part that includes visits to companies and business fairs and finally the cultural part, namely tourism and cultural activities.
As a bridge linking China and Latin America, our company has been working with institutions including universities, business schools and chambers of commerce in countries including Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico. We have witnessed increasing interest among Latin Americans about China from a cultural and business perspective. I believe Latin Americans and Chinese have so many shared interests. I believe more and more people will be traveling between our two regions as people from both sides seek more business opportunities.
However, to boost our cooperation in a sustainable way, I should also like to stress some aspects:
First, the importance of knowing each other through education. Schools, universities and educational institutions play an important role in bringing together knowledge, information and interest about our countries. In addition, different exchange programs and language courses contribute enormously to the relationship. If we are able to know more about each other, we can identify needs and opportunities and build better win-win partnerships.
Second, the creation of more platforms and events between regions. I think both cultures enjoy meeting people and knowing each other in a personal way. For this reason, having more chances to interact can definitely help in terms of integration. By creating online platforms and organizing summits and conferences, we can definitely build more long-term relationships.
Third and last, the creation of funds and centers that support joint projects, especially for young entrepreneurs. By connecting our ideas and markets in technology, services and social innovation we can definitely contribute to more sustainable business growth.
In conclusion, I believe this is just the start of a more solid and prosperous relationship between China and Latin America as by knowing each other more we can identify our strengths and needs. In this way we shall come to treasure cooperation and move forward to a more integrated future.