Some Practical Aspects From Vision to Action: Some Practical Aspects of One Belt One Road Projects in Asia Plamen Tonchev

The Rationale Behind This Discourse 1. The implementation of this megaproject is in its early days - a host of questions still lingering on 2. Most noteworthy developments are still taking place in Asia, China's natural testbed for OBOR pilot projects 3. Expedient to look at how such a large-scale endeavour is to be handled and what the appropriate implementation modalities may be 4. Some very useful lessons to be drawn from a European perspective

Policy Framework 1. Vision and Actions on Jointly Building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (OBOR Vision and Actions) - March 2015 2. Key policy-makers: - NDRC - State Council - Ministries, etc.

in OBOR Implementation Actors Involved in OBOR Implementation - Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) - BRICS New Development Bank - Silk Road Infrastructure Fund - Collaboration with other int'l financial institutions - National and provincial authorities - State-controlled and private lenders - State-owned enterprises - Private businesses - Research institutions - etc.

Operational and Contractual Set-Up 1. Multilateral vs Bilateral/Trilateral Arrangements 2. Role of China's provinces: - “in advancing the initiative, China will fully leverage the advantages of its various regions” (OBOR Vision and Actions) The examples of Xinjiang, Shandong, Shaanxi, etc. 3. Flagship projects: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor 4. Contractual arrangements: Primarily Chinese large state-owned enterprises A degree of flexibility?

Challenges Ahead (1) 1. Regional repercussions - India's concerns - OBOR as a “national Chinese initiative”, CPEC, etc. - Tension in Southeast Asia – Vietnam, the Philippines, etc. 2. Domestic politics, e.g.: - Thailand - Cambodia

Challenges Ahead (2) 3. Clarity needed as to China's goals? - Lack of clarity still around how it is that foreigners can engage with China in OBOR as a megaproject - Discussions on sensitive security questions between China and other OBOR partners - hard to avoid - A demanding learning curve for Chinese businesses involved in OBOR project implementation 4. Demand for new skills and expertise - At present, insufficient understanding of society, culture and business environment in countries along OBOR routes - Current OBOR think-tank boom in China

Challenges Ahead (3) 5. Transparency and accountability aspects 6. Labour and environmental protection standards to be kept in mind? - Job creation and work safety standards - Environmental impact assessments, RoHS, etc. 7. A monitoring mechanism needed? - Are robust, credible and, above all, uniform OBOR monitoring procedures feasible? 8. OBOR impact assessment - a mission impossible?

Conclusions 1. So far, OBOR has been clearly China-driven, which it is highly likely to remain. Buy-in by other countries varies considerably. 2. Most projects to date - on a bilateral (trilateral) basis. Multilateralism yet to take off, but that will be the real game changer. 3. Mutual understanding and trust-building – arguably, the biggest challenge ahead. 4. Ultimately, the success of OBOR will depend on the benefits that it produces not only for China, but in equal measure for the recipient nations

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