SECOND THINK TANK DEDICATED TO COOPERATION WITHIN THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE

The Belt and Road Institute Belgrade hosted the Second Belgrade Think Tank Conference entitled “The world’s new trends in the reflection of the 20^th National Congress of the CPC”, held on 1^st November 2022. The event was attended by relevant experts and representatives of universities, industry, cultural and political institutions from the Belt and Road partner countries.

On behalf of the University of Novi Sad, the conference was attended by the Rector Prof. Dr. Dejan Madić and the Dean of the Academy of Arts Prof. Siniša Bokan who actively took part in one of the panels entitled “Contribution of Academic Cooperation and Future Talents”.

Professor Madić spoke about the dedication of the University of Novi Sad to engage and develop academic cooperation within this Belt and Road Initiative and the 16+1 Mechanism. The University’s engagement was recognized by the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) that assigned the University a role of the Secretariat to coordinate the inter-institutional cooperation within the China-CEEC Higher Education Institution Consortium 2017-2019. He also added that the University became a member of several international organizations and centres in the last five years that were developed within these initiatives.

“Further activities toward improvement of academic cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative remain in the focus of the University of Novi Sad. After the difficult period due to corona virus pandemic, we truly hope that the time is coming when we will gather again, create new partnerships, develop cooperation through student and teaching staff exchange and improve our study programmes for the well-being of our students and future talents,” concluded Rector Madić in his speech.

The Conference was held in Palace of Serbia, Belgrade Hall. The attendees were addressed by a total of 32 speakers, from 15 Asian, African and European countries, and beside Serbia and China, speakers were from Cambodia, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Morocco, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, and Slovenia.