What opportunities are yielded by the Belt and Road Initiative for both China and Turkey?

The Belt and Road Initiative provides an excellent opportunity for making Eurasia one of the main arteries of global trade and commerce. It also has the ability to stimulate trade in the landlocked part of Asia as well as its periphery.

Turkey has declared its strong interest in the Belt and Road Initiative right from the begin- ning. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Turkey and China in 2015 on aligning the Belt and Road Initiative with Turkey’s Middle Corridor Initiative. This MoU was about not only transportation and logistics, but also creating connectivity in several fields, including people-to-people contacts.

The Marmaray Tunnel connecting the continents of Asia and Europe under the Istanbul Strait became operational in 2013. The EdirneKars high-speed railway will provide an essential modern connection across Turkey. Another major project, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will provide an efficient railway connection linking Turkey, the Caucasus and Central Asia. With its extensions into the Far East, this line will connect the East and the West. We call this project the “Middle Corridor.”

The Middle Corridor constitutes one of the key land arteries of the modern Silk Road system. It will create an additional transit trade route from China to Europe. Another Turkish initiative is the “Caravanserai Project” which was introduced as a concept in 2008 to increase cooperation among customs authorities along the Silk Road. This project aims to facilitate trade and transport by accelerating border-crossing procedures in Asia.

All these projects and initiatives will enhance Turkey and China’s prospects for cooperation in third countries on infrastructure-related projects. The Belt and Road Initiative will also provide ample opportunities for future energy cooperation.

The 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road offers opportunities for further cooperation between our countries regarding ports and logistics.

The Land Transport Agreement will be another important dimension which will open the way for more bilateral cooperation between Turkey and China under the Belt and Road Initiative. Also, the Belt and Road Initiative will be instrumental to promote the development of new business models such as e-commerce. Turkey and China have already signed an e-trade agreement and I hope that the Belt and Road Initiative will help us to further expand the use of e-commerce between our countries.

With necessary financing and cooperation, the Belt and Road Initiative will surely create a positive synergy in a vast geographical area. There are already several blueprints coming from countries along and beyond the Belt and Road. This initiative will help new markets, improve infrastructure and increase trade as well as social and cultural contacts. It seems to be a good formula for a future based on a win-win approach.