BEIJING-From manufacturers and lenders to consulting service providers, it’s not uncommon to see multinational corporations participating in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects. With global ambitions, many of them have embraced the tailwind produced by the BRI to expand their presence and navigate business landscapes across the world.
With the trial run of Egypt’s first electrified light rail line (LRT) last year, more than 180 escalators and elevators provided by American multinational Otis Worldwide Corporation for the project were put into operation. The LRT was one of the major BRI projects that saw participation from Otis in recent years. The multinational also supplied about 50 elevators and escalators for one of the tallest building in East Africa - the new headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia inaugurated last year, among other projects.
“Over the years, Otis has been deeply involved in BRI projects,” said Sally Loh, president of Otis China. The company has provided vertical transport solutions and dispatched technical teams to support elevator installation for many signature projects, she noted. “By actively engaging in these projects, Otis has fully leveraged its advantages of being a global brand and manufacturing in China to support infrastructure construction and smart city development and contribute to regional prosperity,” she said. As one of the world’s major financial institutions, Deutsche Bank has borne witness to multinationals’ participation in BRI projects. “We see cases where multinationals co-develop renewable energy projects with Chinese players in the Middle East, and occasions where multinationals appear in the supply chain of BRI projects,” said Peter Qiu, president of Deutsche Bank (China) Co Ltd. Third-party market cooperation opportunities are appealing to multinational corporations, Qiu added. The German lender has been engaged in several BRI projects, including Sinosure’s guaranteed syndication for China Harbor’s infrastructure project in Jamaica and trade services for Chinese solar projects in Saudi Arabia.
Having a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax and advisory services, KPMG has set up offices in more than 90 percent of BRI participating countries and regions, and will continue to scale up services for BRI-related investment and trade activities, said Jiang Liqin, head of clients and markets for KPMG China. Advancing BRI will bring huge investment and development opportunities for local businesses cooperating with Chinese enterprises to improve their research, technology and application capabilities, Jiang added. Multinationals play an important role in facilitating infrastructure connectivity, smoothening trade and promoting financial integration under BRI, which in turn provides huge business opportunities for them, said Liu Nanxing, an expert on international cooperation at the NDRC.