State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attended the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation that was held on May 14-15 , 2017, in Beijing, China.
The forum, initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping, was attended by heads of State and government chiefs from 30 countries including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni as well as senior representatives from more than 130 countries and international organisations. Also in the attendees were the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and managing director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde.
After attending the opening ceremony on the first day, the State Counsellor participated and expressed her views on the discussed topics at the Leaders Roundtable that took place on May 15. The event was attended by 30 heads of State and government chiefs and senior representatives from international organizations. During the morning session, the participants discussed “Policy Synergy for Closer Partnership”. At the lunch time session, the topic was “Closer People-to-People Bonds” and the concept for the afternoon session was “Connectivity Cooperation for Interconnected Development”.
The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is an offshoot of President Xi Jinping’s initiative ‘One Belt, One Road’, which he proposed in 2013. The strategy is intended to promote economic integration and free global trade by creating a network of trade routes, rail lines, ports and highways, linking countries through Asia and Europe. China has revealed its will to make infrastructure investments in underdeveloped neighbouring countries and over the planned route.