Kennedy Gastorn, secretary-general of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO), receives an interview with Xinhua in New Delhi, India, Aug. 27, 2018. (Xinhua/Zhang Naijie)
NEW DELHI, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) will be a great success as the development visions of the Asian country and the African continent complement each other, the head of a cross-continental organization has said.
The China-proposed Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative "aims to achieve lasting peace, common security for all, common prosperity, an open and inclusive society, a clean and beautiful environment," said Kennedy Gastorn, secretary-general of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO), in a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua.
"These five tenets fit in very well with Africa's Agenda 2063, and also the UN (United Nations) 2030 Sustainable Development Goals," said Gastorn, whose organization, headquartered in New Delhi, now groups 47 Asian and African countries.
Gastorn, a Tanzanian national, said he hopes FOCAC will take stock of how the visions can be realized in the cooperation between Africa and China.
The AALCO chief described the B&R Initiative as sensible, pragmatic and realistic, pointing out that it has already succeeded at the initial stages and will contribute significantly to the development of China, Africa as well as the entire world.
From the African perspective, the B&R Initiative can be carried out "as a way of implementing our own 2063 agenda," he said. "I think that is a point that will guarantee the success of the Belt and Road Initiative in the context of Africa."
The FOCAC summit is scheduled to take place in Beijing on Sept. 3-4. It is themed "China and Africa: toward an even stronger community with a shared future through win-win cooperation."
"I think this is a tremendously important forum, because that's a high-level forum and is a forum that's going to strategically revitalize some sort of commitment and cooperation that exist between China and Africa," said Gastorn.
"China has been traditionally very close to Africa, and vice versa," he said, adding that China-Africa engagement has a promising future.
Noting that China has greatly contributed to Africa's development, he said China's help enabled Africa to move towards the Millennium Development Goals in the past.
Now Africa is continuing to receive aid to achieve its goals in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and in Africa's Agenda 2063, especially in sectors such as agriculture and health, he said.
As for where AALCO can help, Gastorn said the future of trade and investment between China and Africa would be based on some sort of multilateral framework, in which AALCO could play a key role.
The organization now serves as an advisory body to its member states in the field of international law and as a forum for Asia-Africa cooperation in legal matters of common concern. It provides a platform where its members can consult each other, engage in dialogue and agree on ways forward.
"I am very delighted to note that a legal forum is part of the framework within the FOCAC," he said.
