NEWS & EVENTS Boost to Malaysia-China economic ties under Belt and Road Initiative First mooted in <strong>September</strong>/<strong>October</strong> 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is China’s grand strategy to create transnational economic cooperation on a global scale, traversing 69 countries in East, West and Central Asia, the African continent and Europe. As envisioned by Xi Jinping, President of People’s Republic of China, the BRI blueprint integrates two trade routes. 1) Overland Silk Road Economic Belt, connecting China to Europe via Central Asia and Russia, China to the Middle East via Central Asia, and China to South and Southeast Asia, and; 2) Sea passage along 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, linking China’s ocean ports to Europe via the South China Sea and Indian Ocean (through Straits of Malacca)and the South Pacific. Dato’ Lock Peng Kuan, Partner of Baker Tilly (Malaysia). Through “infrastructure connectivity and at enhancing trade flow and investment opportunities by reducing transnational transaction costs and barriers”, BRI focuses on: (a) Policy Coordination, (b) Infrastructural Connectivity, (c) Trade and <strong>Investment</strong> Enhancement, (d) Financial Integration, and (e) People-to-People Bond. BAKER TILLY MALAYSIA DESK LAUNCH Since its inception, Malaysia has been a supporter and one of the major beneficiaries of BRI, manifest in the slew of Chinese investments by state-owned enterprises and conglomerates such as Hua Wei, CRRC Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co KAJ Development (Melaka Gateway), China Rail Engineering Corporation (CREC) and the Alibaba Group. Yet another infrastructure project under BRI that would spur further development of our eastern coastal states is the RM55 billion East Coast Rail Link financed by and awarded to China. Malaysia, already an established trading partner of China (USD100 billion in 2016) coupled with its open economy, is well-positioned to leverage on BRI. However, as Baker Tilly (Malaysia) Partner, Dato‘ Lock Peng Kuan remarked at the launch of its Malaysia desk, “while many are already eyeing opportunities to be part of the BRIU success story, not many local organisations and SMEs are clear about how they can jump on the bandwagon”; hence the launch of the Baker Tilly Belt and Road Desk – one of the first to be established in Malaysia. THE BAKER TILLY ADVANTAGE Manned by professionals with extensive experience and know-how of both Malaysian and Chinese markets, and working with network firms (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Ferrier Hodgson), the Desk is poised to facilitate trade and other business opportunities between the two countries, to connect and expand entrepreneurship under the BRI umbrella. With offices in 60 countries including China (network of 21 locations and manpower more than 3,000 strong), Baker Tilly is ‘fully geared’ to act as the preferred and trusted service provider for entry and participation in BRI, the new paradigm for international economic cooperation. Overlapping maps of BRI and ancient Silk Roads. Map source: Economist.com From left: Ms Carol Fung, Head of Seller Adoption of E-Commerce, Digital Free Trade Zone (DFTZ), Dato’ Lock Peng Kuan, Partner of Baker Tilly (Malaysia), Mr Koh King Kee, Director of Baker Tilly Belt and Road Desk, and Dato’ Heng Ji Keng, Executive Chairman of Baker Tilly (Malaysia). 12 <strong>Building</strong> & <strong>Investment</strong> | www.b-i.biz
Underwriters Laboratories Inc.