PRESS RELEASE
Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong
May 19, 2016 (EIRNS)—The Belt and Road Summit is now taking place in Hong Kong. In addition to the top personalities in the Hong Kong institutions and business world, the conference was addressed by Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and the vice chairman of the National Security Commission of China. He is also known as the "third man" of China.
Speaking on the Belt and Road policy, Zhang said,
"China is the initiator, but this is not a one-man show. The Belt and Road are not private exclusive roads but wide and open avenues for all of us,"
adding that some 30 international agreements had been signed with the countries on the routes defined by China. Another deal with Indonesia was signed on May 18.
Zhang, apparently for the first time, enumerated the areas where Hong Kong can make important contributions to the New Silk Road, especially in terms of financial services, and in high technology.
"The central government ... holds the view that Hong Kong possesses a multitude of unique strengths in the development of One Belt, One Road, and is capable of performing such functions that are of high importance,"
Zhang said.
The Hong Kong corespondent for the Turkish daily Hurriyet and other journalists covering the summit were briefed on the Belt and Road’s six corridors by Tommy Lui, who is an advisory board member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and a director of the Chinese logistics company, Li & Fung. b"It consists of six economic collaboration routes," Lui said. The first is the China-Russia-Mongolia route. Others include the Eurasia Bridge; the China-Central and East Asia corridor; the China-Indochina Peninsula corridor the China-Pakistan corridor, which Hurriyet points out is the most advanced, where China has already built oil refineries in Pakistan; the sixth corridor is the Bangladesh-India-Myanmar (BIM) corridor.
Hurriyet reported on China’s having already earmarked $40 billion for the Silk Road Fund, and $50 billion for its contribution to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Referring to the ancient Silk Road, Zhang said, "From the Yellow River to the Ganges, from the Nile to the blue Mediterranean, the flowers of ancient civilizations have bloomed in the course of mutual learning and become the shared memory of countries along the routes."
Other speakers included: Jin Qi, Chairman, Silk Road Fund; Sultan Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates; Dr. D.J. Pandian, Vice President, Chief Investment Officer, AIIB; Tan Sri Dr. Francis Yeoh Sock Ping, Managing Director, YTL Group (Malaysia); Teresita Sy-Coson, Vice Chairperson, SM Investments Corp. (the Philippines); Suryo Bambang Sulisto, Chairman, KADIN Indonesia Honorary Council; and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DP World (U.A.E.).
