UN chief hails forum on Asian infra buildup

Many of the problems plaguing today’s world boil down to sluggish develop­ment, and effective growth strategies are more than welcome for better global governance, say analysts.

The Belt and Road Initiative is sched­uled to take place in Beijing on Sunday and Monday to delve into possible solu­tions to the challenges facing the world.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has spoken highly of the Chi­na-proposed initiative, saying “China plays a very central role” through it in uniting the world to address today’s global development challenges.

“When we look at the Belt and Road Initiative, we see a very important con­tribution to this solidarity in addressing global problems with international coop­eration, where China plays a very central role,” said Guterres in an interview with several UN-based Chinese media out­lets earlier this week.

The UN chief said China has been a “strong pillar of multilateralism,” which serves as a sound basis for solving glob­al problems.

He pointed out the enormous prob­lems—climate change, population growth, food insecurity, water scarcity — in many parts of the world. “We under­stand there is no solution for these prob­lems at the country level, the solution must be at the global level,” he added.

The Belt and Road Initiative, pro­posed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 and comprising the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is aimed at building a trade and infrastructure network along ancient trade routes connecting Asia with Europe, Africa and beyond.

The initiative has so far gained the support of more than 100 countries and international organizations, and more than 40 of them have signed coopera­tion agreements with China.

“The world needs to pay attention” to the forum on the initiative, said David Gosset, founder of the Europe-China Forum in a recently published article.

Gosset said the initiative will have a “strong impact on international relations and global business.”

The initiative, with an emphasis on infrastructure development, “fits well” into the world’s pursuit for sustainable economic development, said partici­pants at a UN forum in Hong Kong Tues­day.

“Since the 2008 global financial cri­sis, there has been a global emphasis on the importance of infrastructure invest­ment as a way of raising the productivity of economies and driving international trade in a sustainable way,” said Chris Heathcote, CEO of Sydney-based Glob­al Infrastructure Hub.

One of the reasons the world is so interested in the initiative is that it com­plements the need to grow global infra­structure, Heathcote said at the Interna­tional Public-Private Partnerships Forum co-held by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and Hong Kong City University.

Asked to use just one sentence to describe the most important feature of the initiative, Guterres said: “I think what it demonstrates is a vision of how important it is not only to connect the countries, but also to connect the peo­ples to address the global challenges of today.”

“I strongly believe that this initiative comprises more than physical connec­tions as it aims to create the world’s largest platform for economic coordina­tion, including policy coordination, trade, finance collaboration and social and cultural cooperation,” said Kosta Gouli­amos, rector of European University Cy­prus.

An expert in political communication as well as media and cultural studies, Gouliamos’ many books on the interna­tional economy and globalization have been translated into English, French, Spanish and Italian.

“We strongly support the Chinese president’s leading effort to create the world’s largest economic and cultural platform within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, a modern network that would link China with the various ar­eas and countries of the world,” he said.

Being essentially about connectivity, the content of the Belt and Road remains open, said Gosset.

“It is a project which can integrate new ideas and realities more than a rigid program,” he said.

Land, maritime and air connections will be reinforced, and digital New Silk Roads backed by evolving technologies will increasingly enrich the relations be­tween China and the world, said Gosset.