SBS Holding the Opening Ceremony of Ministerial Workshop on Urban Planning and Construction for Developing Countries

         On the night of September 23, 2021 Beijing Time, the opening ceremony of the “Ministerial Workshop on Urban Planning and Construction for Developing Countries”, sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and undertaken by the MOFCOM Training Base for International Business Officials (Shanghai), was successfully held online. Shen Weilai, Deputy Director of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Department of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, and Chen Wei, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of International Education, SBS, attended the opening ceremony.

(Scene of online opening ceremony)

       According to Shen Weilai, the status of urban planning and construction is a strong pivot for urban development and civilization, and a material condition for coordinated socioeconomic development. It plays essential role in improving residential environment, strengthening urban comprehensive bearing capacity, and increasing urban operational efficiency. In her speech, she expressed her hope that all the trainees would actively seize this great opportunity to experience the achievements made by Shanghai in the course of reform and opening-up, and to share their experience and ideas about urban planning and construction and further strength the exchanges and cooperation between institutions from various countries.

       Chen Wei said, with regard to the workshop, SBS had given full consideration to the demands of the trainees from different countries and regions, and adopted the level-by-level communication modes of virtual display, expert explanation, and Q&A to share China’s knowledge, ideas, experience, and practice in the field of urban planning and construction from the following aspects: the interpretation ofShanghai Master Plan (2017-2035), the sustainable development of urban housing systems, and so forth. The workshop offered a great opportunity for developing countries to learn from each other, discuss their development bottlenecks and problems, and jointly cope with new environments and new challenges.

(Online group photo)

      Mr. Alieu Baca Conti, Secretary to the Minister of Labor of Sierra Leone, gave a speech on behalf of all trainees. According to him, the management of cities and peripheral regions creates job opportunities, develops scale economy, and strikes a balance between economic growth and ecological protection. Currently, developing countries are facing many challenges in urban planning and construction, and their governments have taken different measures to cope with such challenges. In the end, he expressed his belief that the workshop would provide important support for the policy planning of developing countries concerning sustainable development.

(Mr. Alieu Baca Conti delivering his speech)

       The seven-day workshop received a total of 66 government officials from 11 countries, including Egypt, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Morocco, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Zambia.

                   (Contributed by: the Faculty of International Education)