Costa Rica's president on why the country joins the BRI

World
Europe

01:49

Thursday is Day 3 at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. World leaders and business elites have gathered in Davos to discuss globalization 4.0, a buzzword that refers to the new wave of globalization in a digital world. They have plenty of pressing issues to talk about this year.

Speaking of vision and blueprint, the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) entered its sixth year in 2019, which continues to inject vitality into the economic development and speed up integration in the Asia-Pacific region, while bringing tangible benefits to countries along the route.

The BRI is bringing infrastructure capital and know-how to developing countries involved in its expansion, including Costa Rica, the second Central American country to join the BRI.

Costa Rica is situated in the middle of Americas and borders the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Thus, its geographical position has strategic importance, said Carlos Alvarado Quesada, president of Costa Rica, in an exclusive interview with CGTN's senior correspondent Tian Wei at the WEF.

"Currently, we are working on a trail to the Caribbean with China now, and actually the last contract for the new equipment for the trains has been wanted by Chinese company," Quesada explained, "so there are lots of things we can do together."

As a participant of the BRI, Quesada views China as a key player on the world stage. "For me what I put first is my people in Costa Rica. I see the alliance with China can help in that direction."

"I do believe we have to be practical; we have to build win-win relations with different regions. As a small country, we need to understand those win-win situations. My leadership is aiming to find those relations with foreign countries, for example, China infrastructure. That is win-win situation, so looking for those angles is what helps us moving forwards positively," he added.

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