BRICA SUMMIT GATHERED COUNTRIES LOCATED ON THE SILK ROAD IN ISTANBUL

26 Oct 2018 Related File
BRICA SUMMIT GATHERED COUNTRIES LOCATED ON THE SILK ROAD IN ISTANBUL

More than 700 representatives from 28 countries attended the BRICA Istanbul Summit hosted by TÜSİAD. The opportunities for Turkey were evaluated at the summit where all aspects of Belt and Road Initiative were discussed.

"BRICA Summit", which is the business pillar of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, was hosted by TÜSİAD in Istanbul on October 18-19, 2018 in cooperation with China Federation of Industrial Economics (CFIE). The Belt and Road Initiative, initiated by China to revive the historic Silk Road, aims to create stronger partnerships and relations between the countries on the Silk Road. The project, which includes 68 countries with a total size of 21 trillion dollars, is seen as the largest economic project of the century.

On the first day of the summit, Treasury and Finance Minister of Turkey Berat Albayrak; Ambassador of the People's Republic of China Yu Hongyang; Chairman of TÜSİAD Erol Bilecik, Executive Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CFIE & BRICA Xiong Meng, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Suma Chakrabarti and President of TÜSİAD China Network Korhan Kurdoğlu made the opening speeches. After the end of the sessions on the first day of the summit, the Gala Dinner sponsored by İşbank was held with the participation of Trade Minister of Turkey, Ruhsar Pekcan

The role of Turkey in The Belt and Road Initiative was discussed in BRICA Istanbul Summit

The following topics were discussed in detail:

  • Targets of the Belt and Road Initiative from the perspective of China and Turkey’s role in this large-scale project
  • What features of Turkey should come to the fore in The Belt and Road Initiative and what should Turkey do to make more use of this Initiative
  • Various opportunities of the Belt and Road Initiative in different continents such as Asia, Europe and Africa
  • The role of multinational companies in the Belt and Road Initiative and their methods of doing business in China
  • Influence of digital transformation on companies, digital infrastructure projects, role of multinational companies in digitalization and cooperation opportunities in member countries.

Erol Bilecik: BRICA has not only the power to change the world's commercial course, it also has the power to change the course of trade history

In his speech at the BRICA summit, President of TÜSİAD Erol Bilecik stated the following:

"The Belt and Road Initiative, launched 5 years ago, is now considered to be the largest economic project of the century, as it covers 68 countries with a total economic size of $21 trillion. As TÜSİAD, we are a founding member of the Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Alliance (BRICA), which we can define as the business pillar of the Belt and Road Initiative. BRICA has not only the power to change the commercial course of the world; it also has the power to change the course of trade history. For this reason, as TÜSİAD, we are very excited and pleased to host the second summit of BRICA in Istanbul, the city of civilizations where the east and the west meet

The main objective of this multilateral mechanism that includes business organizations from 29 countries and 4 continents is to develop partnerships and relations between the countries on the Silk Road. The main question we will be tackling during the summit is going to be what role the private sector will play in the Belt and Road Initiative."

BRICA Istanbul Summit was supported by HSBC Turkey and Siemens as Gold Sponsors, Garanti Bank as Event Sponsor, İşBank as Gala Dinner Sponsor, TFI Tab Food Investments as Lunch Sponsor, Arzum OKKA as Coffee Break Sponsor, Mazars Denge as Knowledge Partner, Çimtaş and Çitam as contributors.

WHAT IS BRICA?

The Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Alliance – BRICA is announced as the business pillar of the ‘’Belt and Road Initiative’’ by the Chinese government in 2013. It is a multilateral cooperation mechanism established by China Federation of Industrial Economics (CFIE) in May 2016 to increase partnerships between countries on the Silk Road. TÜSİAD is a founding member of BRICA that currently covers 31 business organizations from 29 countries & regions of the world.

For detailed information: www.bricaistanbul.com