Following the meeting, President Sall conferred the Knights of the National Order of the Lion of Senegal award on Professor Justin Yifu Lin.  

President Sall said that Professor Justin Yifu Lin visited Senegal several times before as the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, and communicated with him in person on global economic patterns and the economic development of Senegal. He strongly agreed with Professor Justin Yifu Lin's opinions for "New Structural Economics" and thanked Professor Justin Yifu Lin for sharing this precious experience. He said that Senegal now is trying to realize "The Rejuvenation Plan of Senegal”and China’s experience would help Senegal explore new ideas of finding a development path that conforms to its own national conditions.

Professor Justin Yifu Lin was very grateful for the honor and recognition from President Sall and people in Senegal. As an economic scholar, he is very optimistic towards the future of Senegal and believes that Senegal has many of the factors needed for an economic boom. With appropriate economic policy and system, Senegal will surely experience rapid and continual growth in economy.  He believes that the Senegalese government and people, led by President Sall, will grasp the opportunity for economic development and enhance economic strength and improve resident income.

Taking China’s 30 years of reform and opening-up as an example, Professor Justin Yifu Lin explicitly introduced China’s experience and thoughts in governance, developing economy and improving people’s living standard. Professor Justin Yifu Lin said that China has always been committed to helping African countries to embark on the track of development, and China’s rich experience in building industrial parks and other fields has been adopted by many African countries, which has achieved favorable results.  Senegal boasts rich human resources and a sound educational foundation. If Senegal could draw useful experience from others and adopt an appropriate way of development, it will have a very bright future.

H.E. Xia Huang, Chinese Ambassador to Senegal, and Mbaye Ndiaye, Minister of State of the Presidential Palace of Senegal, Oumar Demba Ba, Diplomatic Adviser to the President and Aly Mbaye, Dean of Faculty Economics and Management of the Cheikh Anta Diop University, were present. Professor Justin Yifu Lin also accepted the Annual Outstanding Contribution Award issued by African Economic Research Consortium at Dakar University, to honor his significant contribution to the development of economics in Africa.

About Senegal

Senegal is located in the most west side of Africa; its capital is Dakar. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south. It has a coastline of 500 km. As an agricultural country, Senegal has a 31% forest coverage and 27% arable land coverage. Peanuts are its most important commercial and export crop. Other industries include fishing, mining, manufacturing, and tourism.