Friendship between the peoples holds the key to sound state-to-state relations, and heart-to-heart communication contributes to deeper friendship. Despite the impediment of the COVID-19 pandemic to face-to-face international visits, the global aspiration for a deeper understanding of China has never come to a halt. In response, online china-aid seminars have been held to work as a major portal for closer ties with the international community during the pandemic.
From March 17th to 30th, 2022, AIBO has organized the online Seminar on Trade and Investment Facilitation for Arab States. There were totally 39 participants from Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine, Sudan, and Tunisia. Ms. Rozan Waseem Khazendar, one of the participants from Palestine, recounted how she felt about the 14-day online seminar at the closing ceremony.
Rozan Waseem Khazendar
“I will definitely attend a seminar hosted by China!”
Rozan, founder and CEO of the Rozza Designs Co., is a senior graphic designer, entrepreneur and business trainer of the Palestine Butterflies Star-ups Platform. Her father is a businessman who has been doing business with Chinese enterprises, which made Rozan develop a profound interest in China when she was a child.
Rozan and her father
In 2014, Rozan set up a design company, embarking on a journey to cooperate with Chinese companies. "Before attending the seminar, I had regularly searched information about Chinese culture and trade on the internet. However, the process has been full of twists and turns, ending up with ambiguous and rambling results, which failed to be satisfactory. Upon learning about the Seminar on Trade and Investment Facilitation for Arab States organized by the Academy for International Business Officials (AIBO), I got exited and applied for it without any hesitation. Yes, I would definitely attend a seminar of this kind sponsored by China!" She recalled.
"Start with great expectations and conclude with tremendous gains.”
The 14-day seminar covered over 20 themed lectures, discussions, online visits and tours, which introduced China’s experience in trade and investment facilitation to participants from multiple perspectives. “We started with great expectation and concluded with tremendous gains. What I had expected came true together with all required information.” She said.
Group photo at the opening ceremony
"China is a great country!"
Rozan is the representative of outstanding participants of the seminar. She attended all sessions on time and vigorously interacted and exchanged views with Chinese experts. At the closing ceremony, she made a speech on what she had learned and experienced during the seminar, which is as follows:
Rozan delivered a speech at the closing ceremony
We always need to know local cultural situation wherever we go. In this regard, Professor Xue Qingguo led us on an online tour of China at the very beginning. His vivid detail-oriented introduction has given us a brief concept of China, enabling us to have a touch on China’s beauty.
Professor Lu Yingbo brought us a step closer to China's cultural traditions and festival customs and invited us to enjoy tea together online.
On the cultural tour, Li Na took us to experience the charm of contemporary China which features the reflection of ancient and modern beauty as well as the high-speed growth of China in the past decades. In particular, we had the luxury online visit to the Summer Palace, one of the most renowned scenic spots in China, and got to know the beautiful story behind it.
After appreciating the splendor of China, Professor Liu Xinlu introduced us to China's political system, laws, and regulations through a wonderful lecture. We all admired China's legal system that is helpful for us.
We were also eager to get acquainted with China's ethnic groups and religions. Fortunately, Professor Fu Zhiming gave me the answers to all my questions and convinced me that China is a great country.
As deepening the understanding of China across the board together with comprehensive apprehension about the Belt and Road Initiative and the International Cooperation Forum, we have figured out how to start international trade in an appropriate way.
Thanks to the lecture by Researcher Li Li, we have come to realize the trade categories, the significance of trade to China, the contribution that China has made to the world economy as well as the clarification of many required concerns.
The ongoing lectures have kept stimulating our interest in China’s trade. Mr. Wang Donghong introduced China Customs in terms of its organizational structure and the adopted measures to facilitate trade.
Mr. Yu Xiaodong presented the steps taken by the World Trade Organization and China International Trade Promotion Association to advance trade reform and facilitate commodity production. On top of that, we have come to know many chambers of commerce and industry associations and explored their impacts on the facilitation of international trade.
Professor Wang Jian unveiled the development characteristics of a generalized system of preference and the digital transition of the global market in the post-pandemic period, bettering our understanding of the changes in the global market demand, which made us realized that we need to keep up with global technological and scientific growth more than ever.
The seminar also granted us an opportunity to exchange with investors and entrepreneurs. We applauded the experience of Chinese companies in embracing challenges and gaining success. We hope for a chance to share their advanced experience with companies at home.
We would like to extend our gratitude for this wonderful seminar! I’m feeling obliged to deliver the learned knowledge to our community without reservation, especially all my friends expecting doing business with China.
The above words are Rozan's summery for this amazing online tour. Although the seminar is concluded, more wonderful online journeys are yet to come. Since 1998, AIBO has organized at least 1,800 seminars for other developing countries, and welcomed over 50,000 participants of various levels from more than 160 countries and regions.
Against the backdrop of the raging COVID-19 pandemic around the globe, AIBO has been taking the lead as the headquarter and model of foreign-aid training programs, overcoming tremendous challenges to pioneer the first foreign-aid online training program at the end of 2020. What we have done has responded to the expectation of developing countries, secured the continuity of foreign-aid training program and opened a window for the understanding of China. In 2022, we pledge to constantly improve the quality of the training programs on the basis of the past 80-plus online seminars, and share China’s stories and experiences in lively ways, so as to contribute to the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
The original speech in Arabic delivered by Rozan at the closing ceremony
