He Yafei,Secretary-General of IMTA - International Organizations Should Play Important Roles in the pattern of Global Governance
Distinguished Mr. Edmund Ho Hau Wah, Vice Chairman of CPPCC National Committee,
Mr. Dominique de Villepin, Chairman of IMTA,
Mr. Shao Qiwei, Vice Chairman of IMTA,
IMTA Directors, members,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Guiyang in the golden month of October is fragrant and fruitful and China in the golden month of October is forging ahead, marking the 70th anniversary of its founding. First of all, on behalf of the International Mountain Tourism Alliance (IMTA) and in my own name, I would like to extend my sincere welcome to all the guests attending the 2019 Annual Conference of IMTA.
The theme of the 2019 Annual Conference of IMTA is Working Together to Build a Community of Shared Future in Mountain Tourism. Working together means solidarity. To build is our action. Sustainability is vitality. Mountain tourism is the platform channel. Community with a shared future is our goal.
At the 70th anniversary session of the United Nations, General Secretary Xi Jinping comprehensively expounded the main connotations of building a community with a shared future for mankind: to build partnerships in which countries treat each other as equals, engage in mutual consultation and show mutual understanding, to create a security architecture featuring fairness, justice, joint contribution and shared benefit, to promote open, innovative and inclusive development that benefits all, to increase inter-civilization exchanges to promote harmony, inclusiveness and respect for differences, to build an ecosystem that puts mother nature and green development first.
As part of joint efforts to build a community of shared future for mankind, building a community of shared future for mountain tourism is an effective way to carry out extensive international cooperation in various forms in the field of tourism for the benefit of people of all countries.
To achieve this lofty goal, IMTA, as the first non-governmental international organization in this field, has a long way to go. In the past two years, the IMTA has overcome the difficulties of human resources shortages and funds shortage, held forums themed on Promoting Poverty Alleviation through Mountain Tourism, set up "5.29 International Mountain Tourism Day", launched Dialogue among Famous Mountains in the World and many other activities, which are all carried out around this goal. It hopes to gradually promote international cooperation in mountain tourism to better focus on serving mountain people and people from all over the world.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the world today is experiencing unseen changes in a century. The international order is facing major development, major changes, and major adjustments. The global governance system also needs to be profoundly reshaped.
After the Second World War, the international community established a series of international organizations with the United Nations as the core as the organizational structure of the global governance system, advocated multilateralism, formulated international rules, and proposed solutions to global problems, which played a positive role in the world peace and economic prosperity for more than 70 years. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China 70 years ago, as an emerging power, China has gradually and deeply participated in global governance, become a member of almost all international organizations, joined more than 500 international treaties and agreements, and made contributions to international organizations and global governance from two aspects of concept and practice. The IMTA is initiated by China and is an evidence of China's maintenance and innovation of the existing international system, especially the global governance system.
Against such a backdrop, how can international organizations, including the IMTA, forge ahead as an important part of the global governance system? What is our vision?
First of all, it is necessary to adhere to the fundamental concept of multilateralism, international cooperation based on international rules, and promote the comprehensive and in-depth development of international organizations, including IMTA. In today's world, unilateralism is making a comeback, rules and institutions are being wantonly undermined, and the international order and global governance system are being undermined. More than ever before, the world needs international organizations to play its role and uphold the common interests of multilateralism and the international community. No matter large or small, rich or poor, members and participants of IMTA have the responsibility to stay true to their original intention and redouble their efforts to contribute to this.
Second, we need to continue to promote the new type of globalization and to facilitate it getting more open instead of interlocked for it. Faced with the chaos of the international order and the increasing global governance deficit, international organizations should take advantage of openness, democracy, and transparency to actively assume the heavy responsibility of the platform builders of the global governance model, and promote the world to be more open, more inclusive, more harmonious, and provide new driving forces for the steady transformation of the international order, the reform and improvement of the global governance system and a new platform for exploring new ways to improve it.
Third, we need to adapt to the great changes in the world pattern and actively participate in the discussion and formulation of new international rules. At present, global hot issues such as trade frictions, climate change, cybersecurity and refugee crisis continue to break out in a concentrated way. It is urgent to implement the existing international rules. And new international rules that meet the requirements of the development of the times need to be formulated in various fields according to the development of the situation and the current situation of global challenges. International organizations can give full play to the constructive role of multilateral mechanisms, encourage all parties to re-examine international rules on the basis of equal participation, jointly promote the reconstruction of international order, and strive to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
Fourth, we need to continue to provide “global public goods” that are in the interest of all peoples and are conducive to the smooth operation of global governance. China is playing a leading role in this regard. Whether it is proposing the “Belt and Road Initiative”, establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), or advocating the establishment of a global partnership network and building a community with a shared future for human kind, IMTA and other international organizations are doing “bridges” and “channels” in this regard.
IMTA is a non-governmental non-profit international organization initiated by China. Since its establishment in 2017, it has attracted 155 members from 30 countries and regions. We will work together with other international organizations to achieve more successful international cooperation in the field of mountain tourism. The future development ofIMTA will be firmly committed to three points:
First, better serve the people of all countries in the world, especially the mountain people. Based on the principles of mutual respect, responsibility sharing and win-win cooperation, IMTA will cooperate with more member organizations, international organizations and government departments to carry out global cooperation. Make joint efforts to spread mountain culture, promote mutual learning among civilizations, and take the opportunity of "Belt and Road Initiative" development as the link to do a good job in mountain civilization interconnection, mutual learning and common development.
Second, better rely on mountain tourism industry and take social responsibility. The IMTA will examine the challenges of the society from the perspective of new globalization, taking sustainable and green development as the principle, and taking the culture and tourism industry as the starting point to help more regions eliminate poverty, improve the environment and promote development. Give full play to the advantages of the platform and kinetic energy of the culture and tourism industry, and jointly protect the green mountains and rivers home of all mankind.
Third, better build an international platform for membership development, communication and cooperation. IMTA always adheres to the main task of serving members, and strives to build a resource integration platform, an intelligence service platform and an international exchange and cooperation platform, so as to create a higher value for members and a better future for society. "Seek peace through cooperation, promote security through cooperation, and help development through cooperation", and promote exchanges among people in mountainous areas through cultural and tourism industries, so as to eliminate differences and achieve win-win cooperation.
A united team is unconquerable, IMTA looks forward to working with all of you to jointly build and share, promote common prosperity, and move forward towards the goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Thank you!