DALIAN, China, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Projects brought by the Belt and Road Initiative will create development opportunities for the countries and regions involved, which is a new engine for world economic growth, Lisa Robins from the Deutsche Bank said here Wednesday.
The Deutsche Bank signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China Development Bank in Berlin last month, with both sides agreeing to achieve cooperation projects worth 3 billion U.S. dollars in the next five years, said Robins, managing director at Deutsche Bank and head of Global Transaction Banking, Asia Pacific, on the sidelines of the 11th Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as Summer Davos.
Within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Deutsche Bank wishes to promote RMB internationalization and contribute to financial and economic cooperation for countries and regions along the Belt and Road including China and Germany, she told Xinhua in an interview.
The initiative provides new cooperation opportunities for involved parties, Robins said, adding that the Deutsche Bank fully supports the projects created by the initiative.
There are many developing countries along the Belt and Road, including some with weak infrastructure, she said, adding it is important to help those countries to improve infrastructure construction through financial channels in order to achieve an inclusive growth.
Convening under the theme "Achieving Inclusive Growth in the Fourth Industrial Revolution," the meeting held in Dalian city, in northeastern China, aims to help world leaders prepare for the future by identifying areas for collaboration and share achievements of economic growth.
China has achieved progress in this regard and other countries could learn form its experience, Robins said.
Despite different development paces in different regions, China as a whole has good infrastructure and innovation ability, which is an advantage of the Chinese government to promote balanced development as well as enhance people's livelihood and production efficiency, Robins said.
People living in remote areas have access to modern financial tools to make investments, apply for loans and start businesses, which reflects the inclusiveness of the financial industry, she said.
Speaking of RMB internationalization, Robins recalled her life in China in the 1980s when the country had a two-tier currency system, the RMB and foreign exchange certificates.
The start of the cross-border RMB business in 2009, Shanghai-Hong Kong stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, and inclusion of China's stocks in the MSCI benchmark indexes reveal the rapid development of RMB internationalization, Robins said.
She said foreign companies and financial institutions will become more active as China is opening its market, which will benefit healthy competition.
The capital market will play a more significant role in enhancing the technology, service and innovation ability of Chinese companies and accelerate the common development of Chinese and foreign companies, she added.
