Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during the opening ceremony of the
Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on April 26, 2019. PHOTO | AFP
World leaders have urged member countries of
Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for transparency in implementing BRI
projects in their nations.
The projects aim to improve infrastructure and living standards, and to tackle poverty.
The
leaders, who spoke during the official opening of the Second Belt and
Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing on Friday, emphasised the need for equal
development in a push to contribute to the United Nations 2030
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Led
by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the leaders underscored the essence of
supporting each other in economic development for what Mr Xi termed as
building a community with a shared future for mankind.
President Xi said that since the inception of BRI in 2013, China has been working with member countries to enhance connectivity.
“BRI
has seen large cooperation projects achieved and has created more trade
opportunities, hence contributing to world economic growth as well as
helping China to open up to the world,” said Mr Xi, who came up with the
idea of One Belt, One Road.
The Chinese President called for transparency
in implementing BRI projects, adding that China would not tolerate
corruption in the projects.
“We must
have zero tolerance to corruption, China will only support open
cooperation and clean governance when pursuing BRI cooperation,” Mr Xi
said.
“We will have to cooperate with
member countries on how to fight corruption as well as on good
governance by involving different political parties of those countries,”
he added.
He also urged member countries to support green development to fight climate change globally.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged BRI member countries to work towards mitigating the effects of climate change.
He lauded China for coming up with the BRI idea.
“BRI
plays a pivotal role in bridging the infrastructure gap for many
developing countries which are lagging behind. These countries need to
spend $1.3 trillion to actualise their infrastructure needs,” Mr
Guterres said.
International
Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the BRI project
should include increased transparency, an open procurement process with
competitive bidding and better risk assessment in project selection.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said countries need to embrace BRI for equal development.
“We are tired of geopolitical conflicts, let us support an idea that leaves no one in terms of development,” he said.
The Belt and Road Forum will end on Saturday.
Additional reporting by Reuters.
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