Youths ‘the major driving force for national development’

Juste Bernardin Gavet

Email of the writer: yangmei_szdaily@163.com

As one of the African political party representatives attending the fourth China-Africa Young Leaders Forum which closed yesterday in Shenzhen, Juste Bernardin Gavet, first secretary of the Congolese Rising Force (FMC), emphasized the important role that the young population plays in facilitating national growth and in the “export” of experience as well as knowledge in governance during an interview.

The 32-year-old sees the forum’s theme “youths should play a role in exploring the path to national development” as very relevant and important to the current development of the Republic of Congo.

“Young people are the major driving force for a country’s development since it is a country’s job to look into the future, and young people are the future,” said Gavet, adding that it is also the responsibility of young people to master their roles in driving the growth of their countries.

However, he also implied his concern that young people in his country are being exposed to and are likely highly influenced by Western ideology. “I hope they [young people] don’t lose their cultural identity and heritage,” Gavet said.

According to Gavet, frequent exchanges are happening between Chinese and African young people and will continue to deepen.

For example, the China-Africa Youth Gala has been held in cities including Beijing and Xi’an over the past few years. In the future he expects to enhance the friendship between China and Africa and encourages Chinese young people, particularly young people in Shenzhen, to visit and experience the Republic of Congo.

The secretary spoke highly of the prosperity of Shenzhen as a successful model for his country.

“Different countries have different cultures, but we are faced with similar problems. The forum provides a great platform for us to communicate with and learn from each other,” he said, “For example, we learned from Shenzhen’s success and set up a special economic zone in the Republic of Congo,” he said.

Impressed by Shenzhen’s established volunteer programs, he said his country will learn from Shenzhen in this aspect in the near future as well.