Strengthen the support on B&R Initiative for another century

On September 19, 2017, the Belt and Road Roundtable, one of the celebration events to mark the 100th anniversary of Deloitte China, was successfully held in Beijing. The Roundtable was attended by more than 70 participants, including guests from relevant government departments, embassies of countries along the Belt and Road, major participating companies in the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as other member firms of Deloitte around the world. Participants gathered to discuss the ways to support the Belt and Road Initiative and how to leverage new opportunities brought about by the Belt and Road Initiative.

At the Roundtable, participants had an interactive and fruitful discussion in respect of the development trends proposed by the Belt and Road Initiative and the opportunities, challenges and responses of companies. A number of points were reached, summarized as follows:

• For the Belt and Road Initiative to implement successfully, we must first obtain an understanding of the local market. Demand forecasts and risk management plans should be prepared based on sufficient understanding of the macro-economic conditions, investment environment, tax and labor policies, and local culture.

• The government supports companies, financial institutions and professional firms to form an alliance for “going out”, set up ecosystems for industries and create synergy to practically deliver economic benefits and employment opportunities to the local areas.

• Financing is one of the bottlenecks in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative. Companies should attempt different modes of financing from international practices and build up diversified financing channels to acquire more sources of funding and lower financing costs.

• International talent pooling and development requires long-term efforts. International talents are not only required to possess international professional expertise, but also be capable of multi-cultural communication and conscious of innovation.

• Companies implementing the Belt and Road Initiative shall perform portfolio management: firstly, for portfolios in the form of projects including M&A and greenfield investment, with an aim to balance the overall revenue and risk of each project; secondly, for portfolios of different terms of all long-term and short-term project revenues, allowing companies to sustain long-term development.

After the Roundtable, participants remarked that the meeting was highly practical, effective and helpful. The interactive discussion with representatives from different parties has triggered deeper thoughts on the Belt and Road Initiative and offered solution ideas to tackle challenges encountered in practice. Meanwhile, participants would also like to continue to join hands with Deloitte in the new century to seize new opportunities from the Belt and Road Initiative and carry on the legacy we have created together.