At the invitation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), CISTRAT and CASTED sent a delegation on April 7th-8th to Kampala, Uganda to participate in the "7th African Science, Technology and Innovation Forum" and exchanged views with delegates.

In the High-level panel on Global Digital Compact: bridging the digital divide to accelerate progress towards sustainable development for all, Dr. Yang Jing spoke on the creation of jobs and skills development through responsible AI and digital innovation, and elaborated on South-South cooperation opportunities between Africa and China in terms of infrastructure, digital transformation of agriculture, and inclusive education. These collaborations will not only create high-quality jobs in Africa, but also provide a new paradigm for collaborative innovation among developing countries for global digital governance.

In the High-level panel: Advancing science diplomacy and partnership to build an African research area, Tian Nianping introduced the policy support of China and Africa in strengthening scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation on the basis of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. She took the training workshop for developing countries as the starting point, shared the intrinsic relationship between the training theme and the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) and typical cases of the training workshops serving the SDGs, and put forward suggestions on strengthening exchanges and cooperation between CASTED and African partners in the future to help achieve the SDGs.

The forum was co-organized by UNECA, UNESCO, the African Union and the Government of Uganda. Monica Musenero, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation of Uganda, attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered a speech. The Prime Minister of Uganda, Robinah Nabbanja, attended the closing ceremony of the forum and delivered a speech, saying that scientific and technological innovation is an important driving force for Uganda to achieve the transformation of its development mode, and Uganda will take the forum as an opportunity to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with other countries in the field of scientific and technological innovation, and contribute to the completion of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and Africa's 2063 Agenda.