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The Fourth China’s SMEs Global Development Forum Held in Wuhan

Hosted by the Global Alliance of SMEs (GASME) together with the Western Returned Scholars Association, Global Times and China Radio International Online, the Fourth China’s SMEs Global Development Forum was held in Wuhan on September 16th, 2016.

Special guests to this forum include: Mr. Christian Wulff, Global Chairman of GASME and Former President of Germany, Mr. Lee Soo-sung, Former Prime Minister of South Korea, Mr. Jean-Baptiste Natama, Former Chief of Staff of the African Union Commission, Mr. Long Yongtu, China's WTO Chief Negotiator and Former Vice Minister of the National Foreign Trade, Mr. Wei Jianguo, Chinese Vice Minister of International Economic Exchange Center and Vice Chairman of China Ministry of Commerce, Mr. He Weiwen, Vice Chairman of GASME, Expert on Propaganda of State Council Information Office and Chief Editor of China International Finance, and Mr. Martin Richenhagen, President and CEO of AGCO Corporation.

So far, the China’s SMEs Global Development Forum has already been held for three consecutive sessions. The first session was held at the headquarters of UN Industrial Development Organization in Vienna, Austria on 2012. The second and third sessions were held in Ningbo in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Mr. Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Lee Myung-bak, Former President of South Korea, Mr. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, Former Prime Minister of France and other world leaders attended these sessions.

Mr. Christian Wulff, Global Chairman of GASME and Former President of Germany, pointed out that the Spirit of Craftsman was the key to the success of Germany. German craftsmen would never be satisfied; they always explored to find better solutions. Besides, Germany was highly experienced in social security, tax, legislation, rules of labor market and protection of intellectual property. Mr. Wulff would definitely provide support for German and Chinese enterprises to work together for greater business opportunities. Industry 4.0 and Made in China 2025 were two great strategies that could be integrated to make greater contributions to the whole world.

Mr. Lee Soo-sung, Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea emphasized the important role that SMEs played in the economy of all nations. For example, in the Republic of Korea, 99% of enterprises were small and medium-sized. More than 85% of employees in the country were working for those SMEs. Social responsibility should be shouldered by every citizen. In the past, maximizing profit was the only goal for almost every enterprise, leading to severe problems such as huge wealth gaps and social inequality. Mr. Lee indicated that all entrepreneurs should develop global visions and take on social responsibilities. China and South Korea were long-standing friends and should work together for a brighter future.

Mr. Jean-Baptiste Natama, Former Chief of Staff of the African Union Commission shared the key strategies employed in Africa’s economic development. According to Mr. Natama, Arica is a land of rich resources --- land, minerals and labor, forming the basis for its economic development. Now with improved democratic governance and legal construction, African people are enjoying a raised standard of life with increased demands. Thus, huge opportunities are presented here, waiting for exploration and investment.

Mr. Martin Richenhagen, President and CEO of AGCO Corporation, mentioned that “it’s true to say that Agriculture hasn’t been very fashionable in recent times. It’s not very sexy, but it had better become so, because people have to eat. In fact, to meet this demand, farmers will have to grow as much food over the next 50 years as they have over the full course of recorded history. That’s why we need to have creative and effective strategies. That’s why we have to retain farming talent and make agriculture an attractive career choice and, indeed, dynamic and sexy. We are very excited to be playing an active part in shaping the future of agriculture. We design, manufacture and support equipment that increases farmers’ efficiency and productivity. At the same time and equally important, we are also focused strongly on producing appropriate equipment and solutions to suit farming in all its various stages of development all over the world.”

Mr. Wei Jianguo, Former vice Minister of Commerce pointed out that the key to China’s economic transformation lied in entrepreneurs. To facilitate corporate transformation, there were two paths. One was service trade, and the other was global development. Transformation could not be made immediately. Instead, it normally took three to five years to make it work.

Mr. Long Yongtu, Chief Negotiator of China’s WTO Accession, indicated that entrepreneurs should make great efforts to facilitate the development and prosperity of China’s economy. Meanwhile, an equal and fair market environment was needed for enterprises to provide better services and products for people and improve the quality of their life. With better quality, Chinese services and products could then grab larger shares in the global market.

Mr. He Weiwen, Expert on Propaganda of State Council Information Office and Chief Editor of China International Finance, talked about the business opportunities that the Belt and Road Initiative had brought about. Our SMEs, especially internet and manufacturing enterprises, have tremendous opportunities in overseas industrial parks. We needed to enhance our industrial cooperation with local companies to improve the infrastructure so as to stimulate more consumption.

GASME Outstanding Entrepreneur and GASME Most Influential Enterprise were selected by the organizing committee and presented to the winners by Mr. Christian Wulff.

Multiple political leaders and more than 1500 entrepreneurs from top 500 around the world attended the Forum. The focus of the Forum was fixed on discussing the national strategy of the Belt and Road, sharing the Internet + thinking, accelerating the transformation and upgrading of Chinese SMEs, and addressing current difficulties of SMEs so that more SMEs could grasp the trend of the global economic development and instill new momentum for the sustainable development of China’s economy.


Mr. Christian Wulff delivered a keynote speech


Mr. Christian Wulff dialogued with Chinese entrepreneurs


Mr. Lee Soo-sung delivered a keynote speech


Mr. Jean-Baptiste Natama delivered a keynote speech


Mr. Long Yongtu delivered a keynote speech


Mr. Wei Jianguo delivered a keynote speech


Mr. He Weiwen delivered a keynote speech


Mr. Martin Richenhagen delivered a keynote speech


Mr. Christian Wulff presented the award of GASME Outstanding Entrepreneur


Mr. Christian Wulff presented the award of GASME Most Influential Enterprise


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