Finance Propel Prosperity of Silk Road, an Innovative Mechanism of Sustainable Development
-- Speech on the Arab Banking Conference for 2017
By LU Jianzhong, Chairman of Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce
Your Excellency Mr. Sheikh Mohammad El Jarrah Al Sabah, Chairman of the UAB,
Dr. Joseph Torbey, Chairman of the World Union of Arab Bankers,
Your Excellency Mr. Pan Weifang, Chinese Ambassador in Jordan,
Mr. Musa A. Shihadeh, Chairman of the Association of Banks in Jordan,
Your Excellency Dr. Ziad Fariz, Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan,
Your Excellency Mr. Azzam Shawwa, Governor of Palestine Monetary Authority,
Mr. Issa H. Murad, Chairman of Amman Chamber of Commerce,
Dr. Fouad Mrad, Executive Director of UNESCWA Regional Center for Technology, Jodan,
Ladies, gentlemen and friends,
Good morning! I come to Amman, Jordan, tracing the ancient Silk Road, and offer my sincerest gratitude to you. Thank you for inviting me to the 44th Annual Conference of Union of Arab Banks, and please accept my sincerest regards to the Hashmite Kingdom of Jordan. I offer my respect to the founding members of the Union of Arab Banks for their efforts and achievements.
Thank you for your indispensable contribution to the peaceful development of the world. Your endeavor calls upon more financial institutions and global organizations to devote themselves to the economic renaissance and peaceful development.
The Union of Arab Banks can be considered to be a key engine to enhance national and regional economic and social development. It is the key force to promote the Belt and Road Initiative to take root in the Arab region.
Dated back to 2,000 years ago, the Arab region was part of the ancient Silk Road. It made well use of its geographical advantage and intelligence of the people of bridging Europe, Africa and Asia, and contributed significantly to the economic prosperity and cultural exchanges along the Silk Road.
The Belt and Road Initiative is an intellectual path for China to open itself up in the ever-changing world. It is the Oriental wisdom to promote global cooperation and development. More than 100 countries and international organizations had actively responded to this initiative, while 50 of those has signed relevant agreement under it. China’s idea of building a community of shared destiny has already been part of the resolutions of United Nations Security Council and the Human Rights Council, which shows the unanimous recognition to the Belt and Road Initiative from international society. The Silk Road spirit, namely “peaceful cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning, mutual benefit and win-win”, is also the driving force to realize the connectivity on policy making, infrastructures, finance, trade, and peoples. The Belt and Road Initiative upholding the principles of “joint discussion, joint development and sharing resources” and “win-win, multi-win and all-win” received positive response from Arab region and countries along the Belt and Road.
On January 26th, 2016, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the Arab League headquarters and pointed out that though our exchanges across time and space, the Chinese and Arab peoples have been sincere with each other, forging friendship along the ancient Silk Road, sharing weal and woe in the fight for national independence, and helping each other in building their own countries. Such trust is unbreakable and valuable.
In 2014, President Xi Jinping proposed a brand-new path for the Arab world to integrate with the Belt and Road, which is the “1+2+3” structure of cooperation. In this new model, energy cooperation is taken as the core, with infrastructure development and trade and investment facilitation being the two wings and making used of the three new advanced areas of nuclear power, satellite and new energy to break through. Over the past two years, the practical cooperation of our countries has been fruitful and rewarding.
In May 2016, the Union of Arab Banks held the Arab Banking Conference and called for “close cooperation of clean energy, green economy, youth entrepreneurship, and poverty elimination on a global scale”. It echoed well with the topic of today’s Conference, “Mechanisms & Requirements for Sustainable Development in the Arab World”, which is workable and feasible.
To realize inclusiveness and sustainable development is also the fundamental objective for China to promote the Belt and Road construction. It highly fits the targets and requirement of the sustainable development agenda 2030 of the United Nations. Hence, sustainable development is not only today’s topic, but also a great solution to the current economic downturn and to realize inclusive growth.
According to statistics, China’s economic contribution to the world has reached 30%. China possesses both the wisdoms and the mechanisms needed to ensure the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Last month, I attended the CPPCC and NPC held in Beijing. In the Government Work Report, the rural population living under the poverty line reduced by 12.4 million in 2016, and expect another 10 million decrease in 2017. The ultimate goal is to eliminate poverty in China by 2020, which means a total population of 70 million will be lifted out of poverty. This promises a more stable and harmonious society. China has made Two Hundredth Year Goals, both approachable and tangible. The first Hundred Year will be due in 2021, the 100 anniversaries of CPC. It aims for a moderately prosperous and harmonious society in China. The other Hundred Year will be due in 2049, the 100 anniversaries of the PRC, which aims for a modernized socialist China featuring Prosperity, Democracy, Civility, and Harmony. The two Plans are two milestones of sustainable development for this most populated country. In order to realize the two Plans, China will try and maintain a growth rate of GDP over 6.5% during its thirteenth five-year plan. As the second largest economy, this growth rate is difficult to maintain, but I believe China will accomplish it. Yesterday, China announced the plan of developing an area in Xiong’an district in Hebei Province with initial size of 100 square kilometers, 200 square kilometers over the medium-term plan and 2,000 square kilometers in the long run . This is one of the "Chinese events" and a fundamental task crucial for generations to come. It is a plan that draws attention from the whole world. Therefore, the high growth rate and the Belt and Road Initiative offer the Arab countries opportunities for inclusive and sustainable development, a true era of mutual benefit and win-win.
And the inclusive and sustainable development is what the Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce sets out for in the first place. In December, 2015, 36 national chambers co-founded the Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce in Hong Kong. It is the first chamber named after the Silk Road. It is founded to share the trade and investment opportunities in the Belt and Road Initiative.
So far, 63 national chambers have joined the SRCIC, which means more than millions of business members. SRCIC now becomes a bridge connecting governments with enterprises, and the practical cooperation platform between the Chamber and its members is a vital force to promote the construction of the Belt and Road in different countries.
To promote the inclusive and sustainable development, the SRCIC unites the new minds for global cooperation and forged a practical and effective platform for international cooperation on trade, culture exchange and information sharing, and set up 7 professional committees, namely Commerce and Trade, Finance, Culture, Industrial Park and others. In the meantime, the SRCIC will spare no effort in promoting inclusive and sustainable development via practical cooperation mechanism, namely members co-founded seven institutes, and they are eSilkRoad, Silk Road International Development Fund, Silk Road Trade Expo Park, Silk Road Think Tank Association, Da Mei International Cultural Artworks Trading Center, Silk Road International Commodities Exchange, Silk Road International Museums Alliance.
- The eSilkRoad is a critical platform for sustainable development
The eSilkRoad is an important platform for sustainable development, which combines Internet, chambers of commerce, and the Silk Road, and blends them into the leading model for cooperation. It is a one-stop comprehensive platform for international trade. And through the online project pool and fund pool, the connectivity of the projects and funds can be realized.
- Silk Road International Development Fund provides firm financial support for sustainable development.
It is established on the philosophy of joint discussion, joint building and sharing the output. Its investment focuses on quality projects of infrastructure and etc. in Silk Road countries with major financial institutions and funds in China and overseas.
- Silk Road International Cultural Artworks Exchange, Silk Road Commodities Exchange, Silk Road International Expo, and Industrial Parks Alliance are the anchor points in both the Belt and Road and sustainable development along the Silk Road, which lays the foundation for cultural and economic exchanges.
In the implementation of the Belt and Road, the Industrial Parks ignites the clustering effects in cooperation on productivity and large scale development. This expands the potential in sustainable development.
In addition, the SRCIC initiated the Museums Alliance to promote cultural exchanges among Silk Road countries, which leads to a better mutual understanding, friendship and trust. This lays the foundation for mutual acceptance and respect. The think tank alliance brings together the outstanding scholars, experts and think tanks of high authority, and offer their insights and expertise for better sustainable development. This is of service to the Belt and Road as well.
We see already fruitful cooperation between the SRCIC and the Arab countries. On March 16th, the SRCIC signed its MoU with the ICC Saudi Arab chapter during the Sino-Saudi Investment Forum. The head of the Industrial Park Committee with the SRCIC signed the agreement with Wasma Al-Oula Groups. In this agreement, China agrees to invest 10 billion RMB in 7 projects, including Sino-Saudi Peace Rose Industrial Town, Sino-Saudi Tech Industrial Park, and Sino-Saudi e-platform for Cross-border trade. It is a highlight of our achievements on cooperation of industrial parks abroad.
We noted that, many major Chinese enterprises want to investment in Arabia regions, but due to the lack of guarantee mechanism for investments at state level, their investments were dragged behind.
I would suggest that the Union of Arab Banks and Silk Road International Development Fund jointly establish a non-governmental and strong financial guarantee institution of high credibility and authority with other financial institutions around the world, so that the bottleneck of foreign investment coming into Arabia regions can be overcome, and we can revitalize the investment, lower the investment risk and re-energize the strength for growth.
Ladies, gentlemen and friends!
Looking back into the history, the relationship between Jordan and the ancient Silk Road can be dated back to 2,000 years ago when ZHANG Qian served as an imperial envoy to Central Asia. History recorded that Petra, capital of Nabataean Kingdom, which is Jordan nowadays, was an important station of the ancient Silk Road and witnessed the prosperity from the connectivity of commerce and trade between China and Jordan. Today, Jordan, as the first stop into West Asia, is a bridge connecting Asia, Europe and Africa due to its geographic advantages. In today’s meeting, you have made actionable proposals and suggestions, and I am deeply enlightened and encouraged by them and hope that new international commerce regulations will be formed to enhance the integrated development of the international economy. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan enjoys effective administration and social harmony, I firmly believe that Jordanian government, together with the Union of Arab Banks, can forge the most prosperous transit hub in the new Silk Road and recreate the magnificence of the trade in ancient Petra.
In May this year, China will organize “the Belt and Road International Cooperation Summit” in Beijing. I look forward to seeing you again at the meeting and sincerely inviting you to the Beijing Office of the SRCIC.
Last but not least, I cordially invite all of you here today to attend the Silk Road Business Leadership (Xi’an) Summit, which will be held in Xi’an, China, the starting point of ancient Silk Road. By then, we can have in-depth discussion on development and practical cooperation, to facilitate inclusive and sustainable development.
I wish the Conference a great success, wish us fruitful cooperation and wish for a better future for the Arab States.
Thank you!
