Arab world needs B&R

The China-proposed Belt and Road (B&R) initiative is an opportunity for the Arab world to close the infrastructure funding gap and lift its economic sectors to the next level, the Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday, citing Nasser Saidi, a leading economist in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Speaking in a keynote speech at the “New Silk Road Dialogue” organized by the UAE Chapter of Harvard Kennedy School, Saidi said that the world’s economic tectonics are shifting to the east.

“The Arab world should play the B&R initiative card to the fullest,” Saidi noted.

The Arab world should establish a digital Silk Road and cooperate with China on clean energy and life sciences, the economist was quoted as saying in the report.