BRI projects resilient, made significant achievements in 2020 albeit pandemic

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec. 18 -- The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects had proven to be resilient and making significant achievements in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, said Charge d’Affaires Ad Interim at the Chinese Embasssy in Malaysia, Tang Rui.

He said the pandemic did not stop the momentum of the BRI. Instead, it has also been proven that cooperation under the BRI framework is strong, vigorous and robust.

He said now under the BRI framework there are more than 200 agreements on various cooperation initiatives with the active participation from 138 countries and 30 international organisations.

“Now we are in the last days of 2020 and as we review the year in retrospect, we are delighted to discover that the BRI is more resilient than many may have expected in the first place,” he said in his special address at the International Forum on New Inclusive Asia 2020, held virtually on Thursday.

In 2019, there were 29 inter-governmental cooperation agreements, adding to the already massive international cooperation network, he said.

Tang said the economic cooperation within the BRI framework has shown vitality. In the first three quarters of 2020, the total trade volume between China and BRI countries has bucked the downward trend and reached 6.75 trillion yuan (US$1.03 trillion), with a year-to-year growth of 1.5 per cent – which is 0.8 per cent higher than the overall trade volume growth rate of China.

He added that China’s FDI in the BRI countries has also reached US$13 billion, increasing 7.7 per cent.

He noted that the majority of the projects which are initially affected by the pandemic are now back on track.

“We have witnessed the steady progression of many, many BRI infrastructure projects in Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, Russia, Serbia, Kenya, Hungary and across the world.

“And these infrastructures will serve as the backbone of the economic recovery and social stability,” he said. 

He also said the Digital Silk Road initiatives are expected to help realise more opportunities in the ‘cloud commerce’ and digital economy while pushing forward the crucial cooperation in areas like constructing necessary infrastructures, filling the digital gap, connecting more people to the vast opportunities presented by the digital age.

“Moreover, Silk Road E-commerce has been a major focus of Digital Silk Road for the past years, and it should prove to be a strong pillar that supports the economic growth of BRI countries once the COVID-19 is over,” Tang added. 

The forum was organised by Centre for New Inclusive Asia (CNIA) in partnership with Centre for Global Strategic-Studies (CGSS) Pakistan, Verite Research, Sri Lanka and Institute of the Belt and Road Initiative, Tsinghua University, China.

About 200 participants worldwide had registered for the online forum.

-- BERNAMA