BRI could be the catalyst for Asia hauling itself - SL envoy to China

• Asia has a golden opportunity, through the careful management of policy, both internal and external, to make this century a golden success story, despite the pandemic and turn the pandemic from being a hindrance to an opportunity

Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Dr. Palitha Kohona said the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) could very well be the catalyst for Asia hauling itself and the world out of the current serious economic downturn.  

He said it had been said that in the 19th century, the world was Europeanised, in the 20th century, it was Americanised, now, it is being Asianised. 

 
He said Asia along with the rest of the world was seriously hobbled by the impact of Covid-19, but now much of the continent, especially China, is recovering and may even pull the rest of the world out of the pandemic imposed mire. Asia has a golden opportunity, through the careful management of policy, both internal and external, to make this century a golden success story, despite the pandemic and turn the pandemic from being a hindrance to an opportunity. The BRI could very well be the catalyst for Asia hauling itself and the world out of the current serious economic downturn.  

“President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative, launched in 2014, covering more than 140 countries and 32 international organisations today, including 65% of the world’s population and 40% of the global gross domestic product as of 2017, pledged $60 billion in financing for projects across the African continent. China’s trade with BRI countries exceeded USD 6 trillion and with Africa has soared over the past 20 years from about $10 billion to close to $200 billion. In a reflection of shifting balances of power, nearly twice as many African leaders attended the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing in September 2019 than the UN General Assembly in New York two weeks later.  

The BRI has undergone refinement ever since it was proposed and President Xi Jinping has clearly stated the guidelines. Green mountains, clean water and blue skies has become the catch cry. Today it emphasises green development, green energy and green finance. China for its part will cap carbon emissions in 2030 and will be carbon neutral by 2060. This will make a major contribution to the global effort to help planet earth recover from the abuse it suffered since the beginning of the industrial revolution. China has stopped fossil fuel based energy development and will stop financing such development also. China’s leadership will definitely have an impact on policy making in other BRI countries also. New industries associated with renewable energy will spring up creating new jobs. New materials will be developed. Graphene will be one of these.  

Artificial intelligence will play a big role in the post pandemic recovery. Students and researchers, including medical workers have been restricted to doing their work on computers during the pandemic. This will continue, even enhanced. Reliance on AI will become more widespread. China will be best placed to take advantage of these developments, given its current dash to embrace AI.  

With trade and investment replacing aid, and due to the inroads already made by China and Russia, US and European multilateral lenders are also directing more funds towards Africa.   It is important to recognize that Asia is bewilderingly diverse. There are significant differences between countries in geographical size, embedded histories, religions and cultures, colonial legacies, nationalist sentiment, natural resources, population size, income levels and political systems. The reliance on market forces and the degree of openness of economies has varied greatly across countries and over time.  

 Similarly, its politics and ideologies have also tended to differ widely. From communism, socialism with capitalist characteristics, to state capitalism, democracies of sorts and simple robber baron capitalism. Development outcomes differed and different paths to development were adopted, because they decided early that there was no universal one size fits all solutions.