New Opportunities on the Silk Road
Joint Development and Shared Opportunities
At present, the world economy is undergoing deep changes, global economic recovery is slow, and growth momentum is weak. The path to sustainable and balanced economic growth will be an uphill climb. Peace, development and cooperation are humanity’s common aspirations. Based on the traditional Silk Road, the new Silk Road Economic Belt will reactivate trade contacts among countries in Central Asia, and establish new channels for mutual benefit and common prosperity. These initiatives will focus on “connectivity in five areas”: policy, transportation, trade, currency and the heart of the people.
The proposed Silk Road Economic Belt will be the longest in the world, running through Central Asia, South Asia and West Asia, and connecting Europe and the Middle East to the Pacific. According to Zhong Shan, China’s international trade negotiation representative and vice minister of commerce, differences in factor endowment and developmental level have given different national advantages in energy resources, labor, technology, capital and market capacity to countries in the belt. High economic interdependence provides opportunities for fruitful exchanges and trade. As the regional scope of the Silk Road Economic Belt is open, any country can join and become a partner and beneficiary.
According to Akbarali Sattorov, chairman of Tajikistan’s Union of Journalists, as a landlocked country, Tajikistan looks forward to renewed trade contacts via the new Silk Road. Three major tasks facing the Tajik government are guaranteeing energy security, ensuring substantial food supplies, and integrating the country into international transport and communication infrastructure. The renewal of the Silk Road will help to solve these problems.
Mahesh Ranjan Debata, assistant professor of the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, believes that the Silk Road Economic Belt could be a stepping stone to reviving age-old ties between India and the regions along the route, such as Xinjiang and Central Asia. India now regards Xinjiang as a potential land bridge to Central Asia, where it hopes to find energy resources in the near future. This will usher in strong economic and energy cooperation between China and India. To construct a natural gas pipeline together with Xinjiang will enhance ties between India and Central Asia.
Chuluunbaatar Chunnt, deputy director of the Strategic Research Institute of Mongolia’s National Security Committee, says that China plays a significant role in the ongoing infrastructure projects in Asia. He indicates that Mongolia is interested in participating in the Silk Road Economic Belt and benefiting from its geographical advantages. For example, Mongolia can take part in construction of trans-border railways, highways, and pipelines and electric transmission lines. These routes can connect Mongolia with Russia and China, as well as allow Mongolia to play a role in infrastructure projects.
According to Fatma Ceren Yalcin, director of the Center for Foreign Trade Research, besides being the major trade route between Europe and Asia, the Silk Road has been home to diverse cultures throughout history. Since Turkey gained its independence, reviving the Silk Road as a trade route and cultural attraction has been high on the Turkish government’s agenda. For this purpose, efforts were made to renovate and preserve the historical sites along the old Silk Road and grant them new functions. Deepening globalization highlights the Silk Road’s high potential for Turkey’s foreign trade, such as ensuring sustainable development of the country’s foreign trade, improving its people’s income and social welfare, and elevating the country’s position in world trade.
Catalyst for Multilateral Cooperation
The Silk Road Economic Belt accords with trends of globalization and the accelerating process of regional economic integration, as well as common aspirations of Asian and European countries to closer ties and economic upgrades. In Zhong’s view, the Silk Road is not an entity or a mechanism, but will depend upon, and add to, existing mechanisms and regional cooperation platforms.
According to Li Yongquan, researcher and director of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European & Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Silk Road Economic Belt is a natural outcome of economic development and regional cooperation in this age of globalization. “The ancient Silk Road was not planned, but grew organically, according to existing trade needs. As a form of multilateral cooperation, the Silk Road Economic Belt pursues mutual benefit rather than political ends. It is a process that facilitates trade and cooperation,” Li said.
Vladimir Petrovskiy from the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences says that the Silk Road Economic Belt represents a new model for cooperation. It is not a regional organization for economic integration, but an international economic system based on voluntary participation. The Silk Road Economic Belt initiative parallels the Eurasian Economic Union as regards absence of conflict of interests.
