The 11th China-South Asia Business Forum, organized by the CCPIT, Yunnan provincial government and SCCI, was held in Kunming on June 12. This forum is themed with “Promotion of Belt and Road Initiative and industrial cooperation”, Nepal vice president Nanda Bahadur Pun, Maldives Congress speaker Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed, Yunnan provincial governor Chen Hao, the CCPIT vice chairman Yin Zonghua attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. More than 300 officials, corporate representatives and professional experts from China and South Asia countries attended the forum.
Nepal Vice President Pun said that Nepal attaches great importance to its economic and trade relationship with China and staunchly supports the Belt and Road Initiative. He hopes that the China-South Asia Expo and China-South Asia Business Forum will become good platforms for the enhancement of cooperation with China, the promotion of regional integration and realization of regional prosperity.
Mr. Maseeh said that South Asia and Southeast Asia have become new driving engines for global economic growth. Countries within this region are economically complementary and regional cooperation has great potential. China’s Belt and Road Initiative fits well with the Maldives' blueprint for economic development and reform. As the world’s second largest economy, China has made great contributions to the economic growth of Maldives. The China-Maldives free trade agreement, which will finish negotiation by the end of this year, will open up a new chapter of the trade history of Maldives.
Governor Chen Hao said in his speech that the business associations of China and Southeast Asia and entrepreneurs shall work together under the framework of China-South Asia Business Council. Economic and trade activities shall be held with diverse forms on regular basis, and the multilateral cooperation mechanism shall be established to promote the trade and economic communication between China and South Asia.
Yin Zonghua said that the trade and economic cooperation between China and South Asia has achieved great progress in recent years. It has not only promoted the economic and social development of both sides, but also brought tangible benefits to the people. He gave four suggestions on the further promotion of cooperation between Chinese commercial industry and its counterpart in South Asia, including the enhancement of trade and economic information sharing, organization or more companies to invest in South Asia, increasing imports from South Asia and promotion of the creation of good business environment.
Events concurrently held during the forum will include entrepreneur dialogue meeting, education cooperation forum, hospital director forum, commercial legal cooperation discussion meeting, China-Sri Lanka Business Promotion Meeting, China-Bangladesh Capacity Cooperation Discussion Meeting and China-India Business Discussion Meeting.
