By Xiao Wu, iChongqing news.

Chongqing - Nikkei Asia300 Global Business Forum Chongqing Summit was successfully held in Chongqing on May 16 during the 2nd Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade. The summit ran under the theme of Towards An Open Asian Economic Area: The potential of Closer Partnership. In addition to excellent speeches delivered by prominent Asian business leaders, the wonderful panel discussions brought the venue atmosphere to new extremes.

Belt and Road Initiative brings more opportunities to global enterprises

In the first panel discussion, Ms. Ambika Goel, the Senior Vice President at GLP, and Mr. Masaei Sho, the regional director of Nissin Corporation Greater China and Hong Kong carried out an insightful discussion under the topic of Belt and Road Initiative: In search of the new growth engine for Asia.

Ms. Ambika Goel and Mr. Masaei Sho agreed that while the world economy is facing unprecedented challenges, the Belt and Road Initiative offers new growth engine to boost the economic development of Asian countries and even the world.

China has become the largest market of GLP which owns the largest modern logistic facilities in the world. GLP’s logistics network has covered 42 cities with over 37 million m2 property.  “I believe the Belt and Road Initiative can boost the global economic development.” Said Ms. Ambika during the discussion panel.

She noted that the Belt and Road Initiative benefits the enterprises including GLP through upgrading the trade corridor and facilitating the investment. According to Ms. Ambika, in 2017, GLP invested a USD 4 billion fund to provide European customers from countries such as Germany, the UK, the Netherlands with a more professional logistic service. The investment capital for the fund was raised under the support of the Belt and Road financing mechanism, which helped GLP to establish the asset portfolio. The fund later supported the establishment of the first multi-layer warehouse in London. Ms. Ambika attributed the successful practice to the support of the Belt and Road Initiative.

“Japanese enterprises have paid huge attention to the Belt and Road Initiative, which has brought new opportunities to Japanese enterprises.” Commented Mr. Masaei Sho. Nissin Corporation is also involving in carrying out business with the assistance of China - Europe Railway Express and China- Vietnam Railway Express.

According to Mr. Masaei, the Belt and Road Initiative and the implementation of relevant projects are well suited to China's supply-side reform by exporting production capacity, and cooperating with countries along the Belt and Road for competitive production capacity. It boosts a new round of development of the central and western region of China. The Belt and Road Initiative along with its relevant projects also meets the demand for the infrastructure construction of the countries along the Belt and Road and promotes the formation of the new Eurasia trade corridor and economic belt. The Belt and Road Initiative will improve the slowing-down global economy significantly.

Mr. Masaei suggested that in order to make the connectivity smoother among countries along the Belt and Road, the Chinese government can coordinate with the countries on issues such as relevant policies and addressing railway express transportation bottleneck problems.

Chongqing enjoys great potential for development under Belt and Road Initiative

At the Asia300 Summit, attendants commonly agreed that Chongqing, at the intersection of the Belt and Road and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, enjoys great potential for development.

GLP has carried out numerous business in China and especially in Chongqing. At present, GLP has built 9 logistic parks in Chongqing with a storage space of 900,000 m2. She hopes GLP could assist Chongqing’s economic development. Ms. Ambika indicated that Chongqing plays a pivotal role in the development of China's inland economy and GLP is infiltrating resources from the coastal area to the inland, in a hope to establish more storage bases in Chongqing in the future.

Nissin has started a business in Chongqing since the 1990s. At present, Nissin’s projects in Chongqing covers fields such as automotive logistics and electronic logistics. Mr. Masaei clarified Chongqing’s advantages during the discussion. Chongqing is an important area for the development of the western region.” Said Mr. Masaei. He indicated that in recent years, the trend of processing trade in the coastal areas shifting to the inland is relative. Because of the abundant population and land resources, Chongqing market is very large. The shift will further drive Chongqing's economy and enable Chongqing's industry to undergo further development to play a positive role in maintaining China's manufacturing base. Moreover, Chongqing is a gateway to the Eurasian continent. The Chongqing economic development will be a driving force for the development of the Asian economy and the world economy. Now, the increasing frequency of China-European Railway Express (Chongqing) is a good testimony.

ABD and AIIB invest heavily on infrastructure construction and environment protection

The second panel discussion of Asia300 Chongqing summit was carried out under the topic of How Development and Support Are Evolving in Asia, Ms. Ingrid van Wees, the Vice-President for Finance and Risk Management of ADB and Mr. Luky Eko Wuryanto, the Vice President and Chief Administration Officer of the AIIB joined the discussion. They stated that in addition to continuing to invest in infrastructure construction, issues such as poverty alleviation and environmental protection also needs to be addressed. They called for joint efforts to promote the sustainable development of the Asian economy.

Ms. Ingrid introduced that in order to promote the effective development of urbanization, ADB has been committed to infrastructure construction involving fields such as roads, lighting, and medical facilities. While the economy is booming, ADB found that environmental problems are becoming more and more serious, and sustainable development of air quality and water quality has become an important global issue. “ADB will invest USD 5 billion in the coming 5 years to tackle this issue. ADB will increase its investment in the future in the areas including tourism, sustainable fisheries, energy waste, and agriculture.” Ms. Ingrid Said.

Mr. Luky said The AIIB has been striving to promote sustainable development and Asian Economy through financial power. “Since the official launch of AIIB in 2016, the AIIB has provided infrastructure construction loans to 15 countries. We have invested USD 7.494 billion in this area. And the investment covers many different fields including ports, roads, power plants, telecommunications, irrigation, health, and other fields." Said him.

Mr. Luky noted that under the common goal of promoting Asian economic development, the current cooperation between AIIB and ADB is getting closer. Now there are 4 co-financing projects, and there will be more project cooperation in the future. The cooperation between the two parties will promote the construction of Asia financial soft environment.

Ms. Ingrid said that the current funding gap in infrastructure construction and climate change financing is huge. This requires not only the efforts of the AIIB and ADB but also efforts from more sides. She hopes to attract more private capital to participate in the investment of infrastructure, environmental protection, climate, and other areas.