Organized by:
Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
JSC “Economic Research Institute”
Boao Forum for Asia

Concept

Silk Road Countries Forum, aimed at bringing together policy makers and business representatives from Europe, Asia and Middle East, is one of the main events of the Astana Economic Forum. The Forum will address the most pressing issues related to cooperation of countries located along the historic route that determines overall regional development in the future.
The Forum will first of all address the challenges and prospects of aligning two Eurasian geopolitical projects – The Silk Road Economic Belt and Eurasian Economic Integration. These high-potential initiatives, which aimed at formation of new economic reality for the region, have common directions, interaction of which will contribute to development of more coherent and effective strategy for co-development of countries in the region.
In addition, issues concerning the energy cooperation, particularly relevant in the context of current uncertainty in the global energy market will be discussed during the Forum.
Certain sessions of the Forum will be focused on issues of infrastructural development of the region, economic cooperation and trade, as well as an increase of production capacities in the framework of joint projects implementation.
The uniqueness of the Forum lies in its relevance and timeliness. The growing interest of the international community to projects aimed at revival of the Silk Road provides a special status to the event.
The upcoming forum will be held with the participation and in cooperation with Boao Forum for Asia, known as international forum, which brings together the Government leaders, businessmen and representatives of think tanks from Asia and other continents to address the challenges concerning the economic dynamics of Asia and the World.
The session will bring together the leading experts of China, Russia, Turkey, the Middle East and Central Asia. The representatives of international financial organizations and experts are also expected to participate in the event.

Program

09:00am

Key questions:
• What can be done to connect Eurasian countries in terms of infrastructure?
• In terms of “soft” infrastructure (customs clearance, concerted transportation arrangements, etc.), what has been done in connectivity and what can be done from now?
• How can Eurasian countries work together in getting their economies digitalized?

Session 1. Europe-Asia Infrastructure Connectivity

Moderator:
Grigory Rubin, Partner and Managing Director, The Boston Consulting Group

Speakers:
Askar Mamin, President, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy
Joachim von Amsberg, Vice President, Policy and Strategy, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
His Excellency Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman, CEO DP World
Taleh Ziyadov, Director-General, Baku International Sea Trade Port
Kaido Simmermann, Director, Estonial Railways
Nataliya Khanjenkova, Managing Director for Turkey and Central Asia, EBRD
Liu Yuting, Vice Minister, State Administration For Industry and Commerce, People's Republic of China
Li Changjin, Chairman, China Railway Engineering Corporation
Michael Christidis, Secretary General, Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation

10:45am

Session 2. Europe-Asia Economic Cooperation and Trade
Key questions:
• Financial cooperation between Eurasian countries is still in its infancy. Much can be done in terms of currency swap, mutual opening of financial markets, trade settlements in local currency.
• To what extent are these economies mutually complimentary? Where can they cooperate?
• The role of SMEs in economic cooperation and trade

Moderator:
Agris Preimanis, Lead Economist for Central Asia, EBRD

Speakers:
Zhang Xiaoqiang, Vice-Minister, NDRC China (2003-2014)
Cheng Fude, CFO, China Datang Corporation
Han Wenke, Director General, Energy Research Institute, NDRC, China
Denis Boroditsch, Chair, Committee of the Transit and the logistics of Estonian Parliament, MP
Evgeny Vinokurov, Director, Centre for Integration Studies, Eurasian Development Bank
Lu Zushan, Vice Chairman, NPC Financial and Economic Committee, China
Ariel Cohen, Director of The Center for Energy, Natural Resources and Geopolitics at the Institute for Analysis of Global Security
Yerzhan Tutkushev, Co-Managing Director: Development of New Industries, Samruk-Kazyna
Erhat Iskaliev, Member of the Trustee Board of International Institute of Logistics and Business “Silk Way", Member of the Board of Directors of PJSC "TransContainer", Member of Presidium of Transport workers union of Kazakhstan "KAZLOGISTICS”

12:15pm

Close

Silk Road Countries’ Forum: Energy, Resources and Sustainable Development