Role of BRI in developing nations hailed

Former foreign leader says initiative promotes modernization, growth

Had it not been for the Belt and Road Initiative, many countries would have had little to look forward to from the rest of the world, said Mladen Ivanic, a former member of the presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Ivanic, who was in China to attend the 30th anniversary of Beijing Art and Media Vocational College, said the BRI offers opportunities for developing countries to modernize and grow.

Comparing China's approach with that of traditional Western institutions, he said that in the West, "there is just a World Bank with some sort of investments, but it's relatively costly and always under political conditions. In the case of China, there is no political pressure. This is just cooperation of different countries".