LUSAKA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Africa's largest trading bloc on Wednesday said the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative should be embraced because it was a catalyst for social and economic transformation.
Hery Rajaonarimampianina, President of Madagascar and Chairperson of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), said the significance of the initiative was that it provides a holistic development approach that envisions infrastructure, energy and information communications technologies as enablers for social and economic transformation.
The global initiative will "benefit our countries," he said.
"It is my conviction that we should design and implement the Belt and Road Initiative at the regional level if we are to derive maximum benefits," he said in remarks delivered at the 20th Summit of the COMESA Heads of State and Government in Lusaka, the Zambian capital.
Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of Silk Road.
