JAKARTA: Having been Cambodia’s prime minister for just over two weeks, Prime Minister Hun Manet has hit the ground running to establish his reputation on the international stage. While at the ASEAN Summit in Indonesia this week, he has confirmed his upcoming trip to China next week, in addition to attending the UN General Assembly next month. Yesterday, he confirmed his attendance at the upcoming Belt and Road Initiative Summit in Beijing from September 13-14 in addition to the China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning from September 16-19.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road, is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever conceived. Launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, the project was originally devised to link East Asia and Europe through physical infrastructure. In the decade since, the project has expanded to Africa, Oceania, and Latin America, significantly broadening China’s economic and political influence.
Next week’s Belt and Road Summit is a premier international platform for promoting business collaboration along the project’s path. The Summit gathers senior government officials and business leaders from countries and regions along and beyond the Belt and Road to exchange insights on multilateral co-operation and explore concrete business opportunities.
At the 26th ASEAN-China Meeting on September 6 in Jakarta, the PM recognized the common interests and good relations between China and ASEAN over nearly three decades. He said that the BRI has provided many benefits to Cambodia, especially in the transport and logistics sectors, noting the Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway as an example of the initiative’s success.
Prime Minister Hun Manet will then attend the China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning where multinational business, politicians and diplomats mingle to further cooperation in trade, economy, and other fields as well as the people-to-people exchanges. The trade expo focuses on increasing imports and exports between China and ASEAN, international investments, exhibitions and conferences and cultural exchanges.
