Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks in a press briefing for the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing, capital of China, April 19, 2019. (Xinhua/Yin Gang)
MOSCOW, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Increasing exchanges between think tanks and research institutes are needed for better understanding of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its implementation, a senior Russian expert has said.
"The BRI should be built according to plans. There should be ... the work of experts helps develop such plans," Andrey Bystritsky, chairman of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai International Discussion Club, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
Bystritsky hailed the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) to be held in Beijing on April 25-27, saying the event provides a good opportunity for all parties to think together and make new plans on realizing the China-proposed initiative in light of "a new stage of the global development."
"The world has become terribly interdependent, more than ever ... The BRI is a step towards solving not only Eurasian problems, but a step towards solving problems of the whole world," Bystritsky said.
"A meeting of this kind for think tanks or research organizations means that the best minds come together to understand what is happening," he added.
Bystritsky noted that positive and "quite impressive" results have been achieved in the framework of the BRI implementation, especially in the fields such as trade, economy, business, culture, science and education.
To secure more achievements, it is necessary to strengthen the exchanges at the think-tank level in the form of conference, forum and other events, Bystritsky said.
"Those who participate in expert debates are not politicians. They are not builders themselves, but they play their roles. They act as architects and people who propose their plans. And sometimes it is very useful," Bystritsky said.
Notably, he said Russian think tanks and research institutes including the Valdai international club boast very "complex and intensive" exchanges with their Chinese partners.