Interview: Silk Road initiative entails further exchange of experiences: OECD official

A senior official with the Paris-headquartered Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has called for enhanced exchange of experiences between think tanks for the building of Silk Road, a China-proposed initiative.

"What is more and more required are places where trust, good information and exchange of experiences can be established. The Silk Road that China is promoting also entails the possibilities of debate and exchange of experiences between think tanks," Mario Pezzini, director of the OECD Development Centre, said.

He made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua conducted after the 15th International Economic Forum on Africa. The forum, organized by the OECD Development Centre, gathered high-profile leaders from Africa as well as from OECD and non-OECD countries in Berlin on Wednesday to share their experiences and visions with more than 500 Forum participants.

Besides hailing the closer ties between China and OECD, Pezzini during the interview also called for further exchange of experiences between developed and developing economies in addressing development policies towards Africa.

Speaking of China's accession to the OECD Development Centre during Chinese premier's historic visit to its headquarters in Paris two months ago, Pezzini said that it was a major event for the centre.

China has very interessing experiences to share, he said, adding that China's industrialization process as well as the effort done in the field of education were very impressive.

"China is coming with a very interesting approach," he said. "In this phase, we are still discussing and working before identifying precise themes."

When addressing development policy of OECD countries towards Africa, Pezzini told Xinhua that it is not only money that some developed countries can put in place to help the developing countries, but also exchange of experiences and policy making.

"What policy does work?" he stressed, while noting that in reality there were also a lot of experiences in developing countries that can teach lessons to OECD countries.

"New opportunity for development need to be identified in Africa. We're convinced that in many areas in Africa there are opportunities for growth," added Pezzini. Enditem