The GI Hub played an active role in the Belt and Road Summit and the associated Belt and Road Forum, held in Hong Kong over two days on the 27th and 28th of June 2018.
The Belt and Road Summit is a major annual event which, this year, attracted over 5000 participants from 55 countries and regions. It was sponsored by the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council – with which the GI Hub has a cooperation agreement – and one of the main themes of the conference was the role that Hong Kong can play in helping to finance, insure and resolve disputes associated with infrastructure projects undertaken under the Belt and Road Initiative.
The GI Hub was asked to join a panel discussion on Risk Mitigation in Infrastructure Financing. Mark Moseley, the GI Hub’s Chief Operating Officer, identified the risks which typically arise during major infrastructure projects, including land acquisition risks, demand risks, foreign exchange risks and political risks. He also referred to the knowledge product which the GI Hub has developed to help governments deal with this issue, namely the GI Hub’s PPP Risk Allocation tool.
Mark was also asked to give a number of media interviews at the event, during which he stressed the importance of robust legal, regulatory and institutional arrangements to be in place if the Belt and Road Initiative is to reach its full potential. GI Hub staff met with numerous investment promotion agencies from the region and continued to collaborate with the HKDC with respect to BRI projects.
The GI Hub also hosted an exhibitor booth at the Summit which attracted a very large number of visitors. Daniel Fedson, the GI Hub Director in charge of the Global Infrastructure Project Pipeline database, met with a number of project sponsors and institutional equity investors, the exhibitor booth was ably staffed by Steven Hong and Mujde Zeynel, both of whom were able to speak Mandarin with visitors who came to discuss the Hub’s key tools and products.
