WHO SAID WHAT AT BEIJING’S GATHERING OF NATIONS

BEIJING: This week’s conference in Beijing centered on President Xi Jinping’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative has drawn heads of state and government from 29 countries, along with leaders of global organisations including the United Nations and International Monetary Fund. Below are quotes from a few of the meeting’s leading participants touching on the significance of Beijing’s project to revive ancient Silk Road trading routes and bind China to Asia, Europe and Africa: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND MAN

AGING DIRECTOR CHRISTINE LAGARDE: “It is about connecting culture. It is about connecting communities it is about enriching economies and improving the standard of living of people.” RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN:

“Poverty, social chaos ... the development level of countries and regions — all this creates a breeding ground for international terrorism, extremism as well as irregular migration. We shall not be able to live up to these

challenges should we fail to overcome the stagnation of the global economic development.” UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY GEN

ERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES: “It is in our shared interest to show that the global economy can serve all the world’s people.”

CZECH PRESIDENT MILOS ZEMAN: “In all of history, except for the Marshall Plan, there was practically no longterm project which needs enormous courage. Let me express my gratitude for People’s Republic of China for this courage, and especially let me appreciate China’s president for the courage which is so rare.” ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER HAILE

MARIAM DESALEGN: “China has taken the leadership in laying the foundations for the realisation of our shared vision for an open, fair and prosperous world. Achievement of this vision will require our political commitment and a huge sum of resources.” TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP

ERDOGAN: “This is going to be the

kind of initiative that will put an end to terrorism.” PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER NAWAZ

SHARIF: “Peace and development go hand in hand. `One Belt, One Road” signifies that geo-economics must take precedence over geopolitics and that the center of gravity should shift from conflict to cooperation. We see it as a path for overcoming terrorism and extremism.” GREEK PRIME MINISTER ALEXIS

TSIPRAS: “As a country with a rich cultural heritage and the world leader in the tourist industry, we highly value the importance of this initiative for people-to-people contacts, cultural exchanges and tourism.” FORMER U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY

HENRY PAULSON: “The United States has been among those countries apparently most sceptical of the ‘Belt and Road’. The more China can demonstrate that the initiative is open to outside participation, the more it will be embraced by global and even American firms.” AP