Director Philippe De Lombaerde attends 'Dynamics between BRI & Eurasia Integration' roundtable.

UNU-CRIS Director ad interim Philippe De Lombaerde was invited to participate in a high-level expert roundtable titled “Dynamics between BRI & Eurasia Integration”, hosted by the Dialogue of Civilizations (DOC) Research Institute.

The DOC is preparing a policy brief on the possible interconnectedness between Eurasia integration and the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) development. In order to strengthen and broaden the ideas that will be presented in the brief, the Institute convened a high-level group of experts online. The event, moderated by DOC Senior Researcher Behrooz Gharleghi, began with presentations by three speakers (Professor Richard Griffiths, International Institute for Asian Studies – Leiden University; Victor Zhikai Gao, Vice President of the Center for China and Globalization; and Michael Schumann, Chairman of the Board of Bundesverband für Wirtschaftsförderung und Außenwirtschaft - BWA) and continued with a lengthy open conversation with participants.

The discussion centred around identifying the links (if any) between Eurasia integration and BRI development, trying to predict whether these two projects will support or contradict each other, and determining what the status quo between the two could look like. Drawing from the concepts arisen from the discussion, the upcoming policy brief will determine whether China and the Eurasian institutions (such as EEU and Eurasian Development Bank) could work toward a mutually regulated partnership that potentially can help in liberalization of trade and capital movement.