Belt & Road and International Cooperation

KEY TO GLOBAL GROWTH AND REDUCING LONG-TERM RISKS

The Belt & Road Initiative, announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013, is a drive to build infrastructure connecting China and the other 64 Silk Road countries of ASEAN, South and Central Asia and the Middle East. The initiative is well recognised as a welcome stimulus to global growth, and helping countries face the challenges of poor physical and social infrastructure. What is less discussed but equally important is Belt and Road’s potential to address the massive and urgent need to create hundreds of millions of jobs across the region to absorb a dramatic surge in working population, especially the young adult population. Unaddressed, a growing jobs gap could lead to political fragility, the rise of new fanatical movements and new economic and conflict-driven refugee crises that would dwarf what the world, especially Europe, has faced recently.

The low level of physical and social infrastructure in emerging economies is well-documented. Most of the United Nations’ seventeen Sustainable Development Goals are related to, if not dependent on, improving infrastructure, ranging from clean energy, water and sanitation, to health, education and sustainable cities. Accelerating infrastructure investment to close the gaps in those areas is a priority of numerous global public organisations.

What is not often as explicitly addressed, however, are the links between infrastructure and sustainable creation of jobs, and between jobs and stability. Concerns about job loss or the lack of economic security are a source of political stress that is creating an unpredictable new normal in politics today, especially in Europe and America. In poor, emerging countries, joblessness, particularly among rapidly growing young working populations, can contribute to instability. In 2010, just before the Arab Spring, surveys found that of eleven issues including political and religious controversy, “employment” ranked first in importance in all six Arab countries with annual PPP per capita incomes under USD15,000.

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2017年08月01日 瀚亞投資
By Donald Kanak, Chairman of Eastspring Investments The ten member-states of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have enjoyed a remarkable decade of economic success. The region has doubled its gross domestic product (GDP) and raised its share of global merchandise exports by 50%. But, during the past few years, ASEAN’s share of global trade has levelled off, with total merchandise export value peaking in 2014 and the inflow of foreign direct investment peaking in 2013. To remain a growth powerhouse, ASEAN must continue to boost its competitiveness, particularly as China, India and other developing nations raise their games. ASEAN’s own research identifies infrastructure as key to raising competitiveness. Telecommunications, power, roads, rail and ports provide the backbone of modern competitive supply chains, and more efficient supply chains will increase ASEAN’s appeal to global manufacturers. ASEAN also needs to step up its
By Donald Kanak, Chairman of Eastspring Investments The ten member-states of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have enjoyed a remarkable decade of economic success. The region has doubled its gross domestic product (GDP) and raised its share of global merchandise exports by 50%. But, during the past few years, ASEAN’s share of global trade has levelled off, with total merchandise export value peaking in 2014 and the inflow of foreign direct investment peaking in 2013. To remain a growth powerhouse, ASEAN must continue to boost its competitiveness, particularly as China, India and other developing nations raise their games. ASEAN’s own research identifies infrastructure as key to raising competitiveness. Telecommunications, power, roads, rail and ports provide the backbone of modern competitive supply chains, and more efficient supply chains will increase ASEAN’s appeal to global manufacturers. ASEAN also needs to step up its