State Counsellor stresses Belt and Road needs to align national priorities
At the BRI summit in May, the State Counsellor stressed that BRI-led projects should complement national priorities and take into account the welfare of local communities, and highlighted the need to ensure responsible business practice. Local analysts and commentators in Myanmar have spelt out some of the benefits and risks of Myanmar’s participation in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 as “One Belt, One Road”, the initiative involves China underwriting billion-dollar investments, mainly in physical infrastructure, in countries along the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road, creating an extensive trade network by linking the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa.
