Interview: Decade-old BRI injects vigorous impetus into China-ASEAN ties: Cambodian scholar

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- A decade on, the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has injected strong momentum into socioeconomic development in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a Cambodian scholar said on Friday.

Thong Mengdavid, a research supervisor at the Asian Vision Institute, a Phnom Penh-based independent think tank, said under the BRI, a number of Chinese-invested or -aided mega-projects have been carried out in ASEAN countries.

Those BRI projects in the region included the Sihanoukville Special Economy Zone, the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, and the Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport in Cambodia, the China-Laos Railway in Laos, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway in Indonesia, the East Coast Rail Link in Malaysia, and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, among others.

"The BRI has played a critical role in building connectivity in ASEAN region and between China and ASEAN," he told Xinhua.

"These projects, just to mention a few, have significantly contributed to boosting the economy and trade in the region and provided vigorous impetus to ASEAN-China efforts in building a community with a shared future toward high quality, modern, and civilized humanity," he added.

Mengdavid said those BRI projects have given a boost to trade and people-to-people exchanges between China and ASEAN, and helped attract foreign direct investment to the region.

He added that China has been the ASEAN's biggest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for three consecutive years.

He said the BRI has complemented the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC) 2025, saying that a synergy between the BRI and MPAC 2025 has increasingly contributed to regional connectivity, peace and stability, economic prosperity and sustainable development.

"I can say that the BRI has importantly contributed to promoting peace, security, harmony, sustainable, inclusive development and common prosperity in the region," Mengdavid said.

"There is no doubt that the BRI projects will continue to strengthen China-ASEAN collaboration in terms of promoting growth, re-organizing regional and global economic order, and advancing greater regionalism and integration," he added.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

BRI, a reference to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was initiated by China in 2013 to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa and beyond ancient Silk Road trade routes.

Over the past decade, China has signed BRI cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and 30-plus international organizations.

Speaking of the BRI's impact on Cambodia, Mengdavid said Cambodia was one of the first countries to embrace the BRI and the kingdom's socioeconomic progress has continued to evolve and improve significantly since then.

"People's standard of living is rising as a result of greater Chinese investment and infrastructure development, as well as an inflow of Chinese visitors," he said. "These have greatly contributed to Cambodia's socioeconomic development and poverty alleviation through creating a lot of jobs for Cambodian people."

Mengdavid added that BRI's landmark projects such as hydropower plants, industrial zones, expressways, ports and airports will help Cambodia achieve its ambitious goals of becoming an upper middle-income country by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050.

"All in all, the BRI has provided and will continue to provide tremendous benefits to Cambodia, ASEAN, and the rest of the world, contributing to building a global community with a shared future for mankind," he said.