On November 8, 2021, the Seminar on Small Hydropower and Sustainable Development of Rural Communities for Developing Countries, sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and co-organized by the Institute of Rural Electrification of the Ministry of Water Resources (Asia-pacific Small Hydropower Research and Training Center) and the International Center on Small Hydro Power, successfully concluded online. Ms. Huang Yan, Deputy Director of International Center on Small Hydro Power, attended the closing ceremony and delivered a speech. Ms. Wu Xianhong, Senior Project Officer and Head of Training Business of South-South Cooperation Department of International Center on Small Hydropower, presided over the closing ceremony while Mr. Dong Guofeng, Division Chief of South-South Cooperation attended the closing ceremony.
On behalf of the International Center on Small Hydropower, Deputy Director Huang Yan first expressed her thanks to the Ministry of Commerce and Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce for their careful guidance and strong support for the seminar, and thanked all the trainees for their active participation and full cooperation as well as the lecturers for their hard work. She said the seminar has strengthened understanding among all parties and laid a solid foundation for future cooperation. She hoped that participants could apply their knowledge and experience to the development and utilization of small hydropower in their respective countries, overcome the difficulties caused by the epidemic and continue to promote international cooperation on small hydropower.
Mr. Jean Sumaili, Associate Professor of University of Rwenzori, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mr. Kwiridzanai Onset, expert of The Energy and Power Development Department of the Republic of Zimbabwe delivered a speech on behalf of the participants. They expressed their gratitude to the Ministry of Commerce of China for hosting this activity. They agreed that the seminar had a clear theme, rich content and strong pertinence. The lecturers are professional and experienced. Through the training, they have learned new knowledge and experience and been inspired for their work. They look forward to participating in more relevant research courses in the future to improve their own capacity building. They think the cloud visit activity is distinctive, very vivid; the Chinese team work efficiently, and is very dedicated.
More than 70 officials, technical experts and business representatives from 26 Asian, African and Latin American countries including Azerbaijan, Zambia and Mexico registered to participate in the 14-day seminar. In addition, more than 50 expert representatives from several developing countries were invited to participate in the entire online seminar. The workshop carried out special lectures and discussions on the topics of small hydropower technology, the practice of small hydropower development promoting the sustainable economic and social development in rural areas, and international cooperation in small hydropower development. Participants visited China Water Conservancy Museum, NARI Group and Tianhuangping Pumped Storage Power Station through online "Cloud Visit". During the activity of Visiting NARI Group, the Innovation Base of International Center on Small Hydropower through “Cloud Visit”, Professor Huang Fuxiang, the Chief Expert of NARI Group, gave a welcome speech and answered the technical questions raised by the trainees after the cloud visit. During the study, representatives from DRC, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Madagascar, Iraq and Nepal introduced the development of renewable energy such as small hydropower, photovoltaic wind power and electric power system in their respective countries, and put forward the demands for cooperation.
From the beginning to the end, the participants kept a high attendance rate, and had a heated discussion through the ZOOM platform chat function and the online communication work group. Everyone has given high praise to the seminar activity!
