Connecting voices and ideas for influence & projects
As the 2018 edition of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation FOCAC begins, Joël Ruet joins the roundtable on CGTN’s ‘Dialogue’ to discuss the implications of Chinese investment in Africa.
Watch his intervention here.
The Heads of States Forum on China-Africa Cooperation took place the 3rd and 4th of September 2018.
The Bridge Tank was represented by its chairman Joël Ruet and two of its associate experts, William Nkontchou, Director at Emerging Capital Partners and Member of Choiseul Africa, and Zhang Yang, expert on China-Europe-Africa cooperation. They took part in the high-level discussion between Chinese – African leaders and business communities, notably with leaders of the most prominent China-Africa Funds, discussing Chinese investments in Africa and Chinese loans to Africa, as well as the lack of equity investment on the continent by Chinese companies
Joël Ruet also took part in the official program of the national television channel CGTN on that occasion, and exchanged with Yang Rui, in CGTN most sought after Policy show, « Dialogue ».
Our Board member, Minister Hamed Semega, High Commissionner of the OMVS, the riverine international organization of the Senegal River Basin, was also present as part of the official delegation.
Energy transition towards low-carbon production models, underway at the global level, is appearing to many as a driver of industrial growth. This Policy Brief highlights that this is only possible by combining the innovation and revitalization of industrial sectors historically present in the concerned areas.
To meet the challenge of a successful energy transition, we cannot ignore the specific industrial trajectories of each area. We should actually capitalise on these historical resources in order to benefit from new, ‘clean’, and inexhaustible resources.
This Policy Brief puts forward the systemic factors that appear to be indispensable for the ‘integrated’ success of energy transition. It leans particularly on the Brazilian example and on the potential for cogeneration within the reach of the sugar cane agribusiness and wind energy industries. The French example is also a good prism through which to understand the importance of ethical industrial trajectories that continue to make sense today in the diversification of the national energy mix, reflected by the shipbuilding industry and the role it plays in the development of renewable marine energy. More in french…
Joël Ruet analyses the current trade war between the US and China on France24. Seasoned Chinese negotiators threaten back the US on trade: from trade battles to a trade war, or showing muscles before saving the supply chains?
Watch his intervention here.
In the wake of the COP21, August 5, 2018, The Bridge Tank: Philippe Coste, Hakima El Haite, our board members and Joël Ruet, our President, wrote an opinion piece with climate policy specialist Axel Michaelowa on the need to establish a carbon tax on imports.
Read the article (in French) here
Joel Ruet of The Bridge Tank was invited to participate in the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2018 (the “Chinese Davos”) that was held between April 8 and 11 and was entitled “An Open and Innovative Asia for a World of Greater Prosperity”. The forum was inaugurated by the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
Xi Jinping announced that China would lower its import tariffs and introduced the first China International Import Expo, scheduled to take place in Shanghai in November 2018. He called it a demonstration of the Chinese will to open up the Chinese market. Xi also declared that China would strengthen its protection of intellectual property rights, which would play a strong role in “enhancing the competitiveness of the Chinese economy”. Finally, the Chinese president also encouraged technology exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and foreign enterprises.
António Guterres underlined the numerous benefits which followed globalisation, but also warned against the ever-growing threat of climate change, always “moving faster than us”. Guterres reminded the audience that the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development outlined 17 sustainable goals in order to fight global warming. Guterres added that forums such as this one were key elements in the fight against climate change, as it encouraged productive discussions to find and develop solutions.
Joël Ruet also took part in a conference on the relation between China and India. Among the other keynote speakers of this event were Ratan Tata, former head of the Tata Group, and Chen Deming, former Chinese Minister of Commerce who took part in the negotiations for China’s WTO entry.
Between the 1st and the 4h of July 2018, the 20th International Symi Symposium took place in Rhodes, Greece. Centered around George Papandreou, former Prime Minister of Greece and current President of the Socialist International and organized by the Andreas Papandreou Foundation, the symposium gathers every year leading intellectuals, politicians, Nobel laureates, entrepreneurs, diplomats, scientists, and activists to debate on current issues. Among the keynote speakers of this forum was Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.
Joël Ruet intervened in a panel along with the former Bosnian Prime Minister Zlatko Lagumdzija, who is also a member of the Club de Madrid.
By Joël Ruet(The Bridge Tank and CNRS-CEPN), Elena Verdolini(FEEM and CMCC), Céline Bak(CIGI and Analytica Advisors), Anbumozhi Venkatachalam(ERIA)
“We recommend that the G20 target innovative green-technology SMEs as an opportunity to promote financial de-risking while addressing Paris Agreement commitments and UN Sustainable Development Goals. This should be achieved by creating signals for private investors through: (1) a reporting system that can help monitor the scale-up of green-technology SMEs; (2) the use of public funds to signal innovative green-technology SMEs to investors; and (3) the inclusion of SMEs in the design of green finance platforms. By implementing these recommendations, the G20 will ensure that innovative, low- carbon SMEs become attractive, low(er)-risk investment opportunities for the private sector.” Read more …
On the 23rd of May 2018, The Bridge Tank and the Boao Forum, often referred to as the “Chinese Davos”, signed a cooperation partnership. The Forum, chaired by the former United Nations Ban Ki-Moon, was represented by its Secretary General Li Baodong, former special envoy of Xi Jinping.
This partnership established a cooperation in the context of the Boao Forum’s globalisation, especially regarding events in partnership in Europe and Africa.
On the 9th and the 10th of May 2018, the African Think Tanks Summit, organized by the OCP policy Centre, took place in Rabat, Morocco, on the theme of “Deepening Expertise and Enhancing Sustainability: Insight into Contemporary Challenges Facing African Think Tanks”. Among the subjects discussed were the role of think tanks in driving the African diaspora and building an inclusive policy dialogue, as well as the role of the media and the press in propelling the African agendas. Our chairman Joël Ruet attended along with representants of over fifty think tanks.
Among the keynote speakers were the former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Ambassador Director General of the Morocco Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI) Mohamed Methqal, the Director of the OCP Policy Centre Karim El Aynaoui and the Moroccan Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China Aziz Mekouar.
