Financiers at the forum shared insights on the economic and financial development of the Global South, and expressed confidence in a promising prospect for South-South cooperation and the development of the Global South.

BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The main forum of the three-day 2025 Global South Financiers Forum kicked off here Thursday, gathering experts, industry leaders and government officials from the financial sector across the world.

Financiers at the forum shared insights on the economic and financial development of the Global South, and expressed confidence in a promising prospect for South-South cooperation and the development of the Global South.

"Global South has achieved a great significance in the global economic system," said Inayat Hussain, executive director of State Bank of Pakistan. "The countries of the Global South have contributed to more than half of the world's growth in recent years, intra-south trade accounts for more than a quarter of all world trade, and the outflows of foreign direct investment from the South represent a third of the global flows."

Calling the Belt and Road Initiative a great example of South-South cooperation, he said Chinese financial resources and technical assistance are helping the development of many countries in the Global South, including Pakistan, where the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a project under the initiative, has promoted local infrastructure development through financial cooperation and technical assistance.

South-South cooperation "has a very high potential to address complex challenges of the developing world because countries in the Global South -- though on different stages of economic development -- can better understand the resource constraints and capacity challenges faced by their Global South peers," Hussain said, adding that the cooperative mechanism can lead to more effective coordination that is mutually beneficial for all participants.

The Banker magazine of the Financial Times Group monitors around 4,000 banks worldwide. It has witnessed the growth of the Global South over the past two decades, with Chinese bankers dominating the top of its annual ranking, said the magazine's Editor-in-Chief Silvia Pavoni.

The growth of the Global South is mirrored and complemented by the growth of their banking sectors, Pavoni said, particularly in a time full of challenges such as climate change and new geopolitical maneuvering.

Noting that the United States has unilaterally created the longest economic, commercial and financial blockade in history, Yamile Berra Cires, the first vice president of the Central Bank of Cuba, said, "Cuba agrees on the need to reform the international financial architecture and strengthen financial cooperation among the Global South countries based on non-discriminatory treatment and inclusive strategies."

She said the New Development Bank provides an alternative for member and participating countries to strengthen their economic functioning, expressing hope for more initiatives to boost financial mechanisms that facilitate the development of countries like Cuba.

The world is navigating through an unprecedented time with challenges of rising economic crises, geopolitical tensions and climate change, said Jonathan Titus-Williams, deputy minister of planning and economic development of Sierra Leone.

"These challenges demand innovative, flexible and collaborative approaches to financing" tailored to each country's unique needs and circumstances, he said.

"A unified Global South effort, and the globe in general, will be essential to confronting the pressing issues that no nation can solve alone ... Through diverse and creative financing options, we can create a more equitable, sustainable and resilient world," Titus-Williams said.

South-South financial cooperation has funded critical infrastructure including ports, roads and bridges in developing countries, and boosted regional economic integration, said Mohammad Nazmul Haque, executive vice president of Infrastructure Development Company Limited of Bangladesh.

It complements traditional North-South cooperation by prioritizing mutual self-sufficiency and economic interdependence among developing countries aligned with global frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals, he added.