Belt and Road Summit 3rd Edition
Information
After the first edition held in Venice, Italy and a second edition in Shenzhen, China, the Belt and Road Summit goes back to Europe, gathering the community of Eurasian business leaders inTrieste. The city and the port of Trieste represent a key logistics hub in the North Adriatic Sea connecting the East to the West, and a historical crossroad of culture between Southern Europe, the Germanic world, and the Balkans.
The summit is aunique platformto establish and build longstanding relations peer-to-peer withbusiness and institutionalcounterparts from themost relevant Eurasian Countriesactive along the Belt and Road Initiative.
After the first two editions focused respectively on understanding what the Belt and Road Initiative is and what actions should be initiated to unleash its potential, the third edition increasingly focuses on concretebusiness to business cooperation and industrial opportunitiesin the countries located along the maritime and land routes.
Date: November21, 2019
Venue: Maritime Station, Trieste, Italy
Host: CDI, The European House – Ambrosetti
Theme: Successful businesses in the way ahead
Program
09:00-09:45 Opening Remarks
Paolo Borzatta (Senior Partner, The European House – Ambrosetti)
Fan Gang (President,China Development Institute)
Li Junhua (Ambassador of China to Italy)
Massimiliano Fedriga (Governor, Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, Italy)
09:45-11:15 The New Silk Roads and How They Are Changing the Geo-Economic Outlook in Eurasia
Chair:
Paolo Costa (President Spea Engineering;former Ministry of Public Works and Mayor of Venice, Italy)
Speakers:
Enzo Quattrociocche (Secretary General, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development)
Sodyq S. Safoev (First Deputy Chairman of the Senate;former Minister of Foreign Affairs,Uzbekistan)
Taleh Ziyadov (Director General, Baku International Sea Trade Port, Azerbaijan)
Cui Hongjian (Director of European Studies, China Institute of International Studies)
Presentation of the Position Paper:
THE 21st CENTURY MARITIME SILK ROAD
Investments, Trade and GVCs: The Role of Italy
Gianfranco Di Vaio (Head of Research, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Italy)
Q&A
11:15-11:45 Break
11:45-13:00 Managing Interconnectivity: Infrastructure, Policies, and Technologies to Bolster a Hyperconnected Eurasia
Chair:
Giovanni Tria (former Minister for Economy and Finance, Italy)
Speakers:
Zeno D’Agostino (Chairman, Trieste Port Authority, Italy)
Zhou Mi (Deputy Director, Institute of American and Oceania Study, Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce, China)
Qu Baozhi (Deputy Director, Institute of Science, Technology & Innovation, China Merchants Group)
Ahmad Ismayilov (Deputy Head of State Maritime Agency under the Ministry of Transports, Communications and High Technologies, Azerbaijan)
Zheng Xin (Research Fellow, China Development Institute)
Q&A
13:15-14:15 Luncheon
14:15-15:45 Bringing the Belt and Road to The Next Phase: Moving Factories Not Goods
Chair:
Fan Gang (President, China Development Institute)
Speakers:
Beniamino Quintieri (Chairman, SACE, Italy)
Li Wenwei (Executive Director, Marine Industry Development Company Limited, Shenzhen SEZ Construction and Development Group, China)
Stefano Beghi (Managing Partner Hong Kong Office, GOP, Italy)
Douglas Foo (President, Singapore Manufacturing Federation)
Ali Mehrez (Director, Moroccan Investment and Export Development Agency)
Speech by:
U Thaung Tun (Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Relations, Myanmar)
Q&A
15:45-16:15 Break
16:15-17:45 Simplifying Complexity for Building Successful Businesses Along the Belt and Road: A Concerted Action Plan
Chair:
Paolo Borzatta (Senior Partner, The European House – Ambrosetti)
Speakers:
Huang Renwei (Vice President, Fudan Institute of Belt & Road and Global Governance)
Wang Honghai (Chief Economist, Tianjin Port Group, China)
Silvana Ballotta (CEO, Business Strategies, Italy)
Murat Salim Esenli (Ambassador of Turkey to Italy)
Speech by:
Mohammad Rastad (Deputy Minister and Managing Director of Ports and Maritime Organization, Iran)
Q&A
17:45-18:30 Closing Remarks
Giancarlo Cancelleri (Deputy Minister of Infrastructures and Transport, Italy)
Fan Gang (President,China Development Institute)
Paolo Borzatta (Senior Partner,The European House – Ambrosetti)
Highlights
In a world where unilateralism, protectionism and extremism prevail and economic growth remains sluggish, China will continue to uphold the principles of openness, cooperation and win-win, continue free trade, and work with other countries to promote an open, cooperative, innovative and Shared world economy.
Li Junhua, Ambassador of China to Italy
We should adhere to the principles of globalization and open economic development. The Belt and Road Initiative will promote prosperity and development of the economies and industries along the belt and road. With the construction of industrial parks and economic free trade zones and coordinated development, the main focus should be stimulation on local industrialization and expansion of manufacturing activity, rather than just the construction of transportation and infrastructure.
Fan Gang, President, China Development Institute
Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region and Triestepossess unique set of advantages in Sino-Italy cooperation. Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region is the only European Commission-acknowledged “innovation area”, whereas Trieste has a large number of research institutes, with the largest number of researchers and the strongest research force in Italy.
Massimiliano Fedriga, Governor, Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, Italy
In today's world, no country can gain benefits unilaterally, only through win-win cooperation with other countries can one survive in the international market. Located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy has historically been an important strategic and economic center of Europe, but it has now lost this status.
Giancarlo Cancelleri, Deputy Minister of Infrastructures and Transport, Italy
European companies should seize this historic opportunity and actively engage in trade and investment with the countries along the Belt and Road Initiative that are in a rapid industrialization process. The Belt and Road Initiative is not just a so-called “China-initiated infrastructure project”, but a long-term partnership that can involve companies from countries along the route.
Paolo Borzatta, Senior Partner, The European House – Ambrosetti
Traditional geo-economic cooperation has certain limitations. Countries along BRI can overcome geographical limitations through infrastructure construction and upgrading, and overcome over-dependence on the ocean for trade through land and sea connectivity.
Cui Hongjian, Director of European Studies, China Institute of International Studies
The maritime silk road involves more than 600 projects worth around one trillion dollars. The maritime silk road countries are expected to grow significantly over the next five years. Among all the regions involved in the maritime silk road, Italy has the strongest global value chain linkages with Eastern Mediterranean thanks to geographical proximity and historical strategic and economic relations between the two economies. Nonetheless, Italy needs to increase its positioning in order to take advantage of the chances offered by Belt and Road Initiative.
Gianfranco Di Vaio, Head of Research, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Italy
“We want to bring connectivity to another level via Belt and Road Initiative.”
Murat Salim Esenli, Ambassador of Turkey to Italy
“Creating transport corridors needs a holistic vision and a comprehensive approach.”
Sodyq S. Safoev, First Deputy Chairman of the Senate, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Uzbekistan
“We have to define concrete steps in order to build this project and Italy also can have an active part in a long term prospective.”
Bilateral or multilateral governments must reach a consensus on development first, as well as provide adequate intangible support such as laws and regulations, strengthen dialogue with financial institutions, and effectively supervise projects. Italian enterprises need to be encouraged to participate in Belt and Road Initiative related projects to enhance their competitiveness in the emerging markets.
Giovanni Tria, former Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy
“As a multilateral development bank, we believe that Belt and Road Initiative has to be a common path.”
Enzo Quattrociocche, Secretary General, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
“The Belt and Road Initiative is not an objective, but is an instrument to decide what we want to be in the future.”
Zeno D’Agostino, Chairman, Trieste Port Authority, Italy
BRI railway connection faces quite a few challenges. To name a few, unstable trade environment prevents partners to make manufacturing decision. With highly developed air and sea transportation, advantages of railway transportation need to be further explored. China-Europe CR Express train loads are unbalanced on a round trip due to different endowment and markets demand. Standards and requirements differ along the route, which increases risks of damage and has driven customers away. In addition, digital economy has changed the customers’ expectation for logistics. Posed with these difficulties, BRI countries are urged to collaborate in terms of administration, as well as improve infrastructure, apply new technology, and enhance service quality as a whole.
Zhou Mi, Deputy Director,Institute of American and Oceania Study, Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce, China
China’s advantage on hi-tech application should be fully utilized to improve service system and service quality of China-Europe CR Express.
Zheng Xin, Research Fellow, China Development Institute
“Innovation and digitalization are changing business models in a way we have never seen before. Digitalization does not mean only new infrastructure and ways of communication but especially new manufacturing model.”
Douglas Foo, President, Singapore Manufacturing Federation
Gallery
https://en.cdi.org.cn/component/k2/itemlist/tag/Italy#sigProId2d3a761098
