(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) A 28-strong UAE delegation participated in the opening of the Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong on Wednesday, led by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Cabinet Member and UAE Minister of Economy.
The two-day event is expected to attract at least 2,000 investors, service providers, project owners and operators from Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries and many other economies along the Belt and Road to explore and tap into new markets and opportunities in China. The UAE delegation includes a number of senior officials and representatives from the public and private sectors, including Juma Al Kait, Assistant Under-Secretary for foreign trade at the Ministry of Economy; Saed Al Awadi, CEO of Dubai Export Development Corporation; Hani Rashid Al Hamli, secretary-general of the Dubai Economic Council; Fahad Al Gergawi, CEO of the Dubai Investment Development Agency; and Jamal Al Jarwan, secretary-general of the UAE Companies Investing Abroad Council. The event was officiated by C.Y. Leung, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Vincent H.S. Lo, chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council; and John C. Tsang, Financial Secretary of the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. In addition, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman and CEO of DP World, was selected to serve as member of a select group of honourary advisors at the summit. In his opening speech, Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, welcomed guests on behalf of President Xi Jinping and the Chinese government, praising the wide attention the Belt and Road Initiative has drawn from the international community. "The Belt and Road Initiative responds to the call of the time for world peace, and meets the need of all countries for faster development," he said. A major aim of the Silk Road Initiative, which was launched by Xi in 2013, is to boost China's political ties and reduce barriers to trade and investment with other countries. It joins and builds on the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. "In history, the ancient Silk Road was not only a route of trade, but a path of friendship that facilitated dialogue and mutual learning between civilisations," Dejiang said. In his keynote speech, Al Mansouri spoke about UAE-China trade, economic and investment relations and ways of strengthening trade cooperation between the two countries using the Silk Road Initiative. "The Silk Road Economic Belt Initiative and the accompanying Maritime Silk Road Project are important platforms that challenge us to consolidate resources and experiences, identify and address key issues, and agree on specific paths for ensuring mutual growth and development," he said. "The UAE fully supports these objectives as part of our firm commitment to preserve our strong friendship and partnership with the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong." Al Mansouri went on to say that trade is a vital pillar of the UAE economy, which has maintained the top rank on the world trade map, ranking 16th globally in commodity exports and making it the most important market for merchandise imports in the Mena region, according to the World Trade Organisation report in 2015. He added that China is a very important trade partner for the UAE and that bilateral trade between the two countries reached $70 billion in 2015. "China's exposure to the world has grown dramatically over the last decade and its trade with the UAE has risen in tandem. Our position as the Middle East and Africa's major re-export hub has contributed significantly to this strong and growing trade relationship," the minister explained. Furthermore, the UAE is currently Hong Kong's largest trade partner of export, re-export and import markets in the Middle East, with non-oil trade between both sides, including trade from free zones, surging from $5.8 billion in 2011 to more than $15.9 billion in 2015.