A platform was formed on Thursday in Beijing with a view to sharing economic information and enhancing cooperation among the participating Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries for their mutual benefits.
The Belt and Road Economic Information Partnership (BREIP) was launched at a function at a hotel in Beijing.
Over 30 media houses of 20 BRI countries participated in the inaugural session of the BREIP meeting with high-level representatives of the Chinese government, the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the private sector.
Chinese state-owned Xinhua News Agency organised the meeting as part of its objective to create a reliable source of economic information available for governments, investors and media houses of the BRI countries.
The Financial Express (FE), based in Dhaka, is a key member of the media platform under the Chinese flagship project Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
At the launching ceremony, Xinhua News Agency president Cai Mingzhao said as the BRI gathers momentum globally, the demand for economic information keeps growing among the BRI countries.
"So, the platform is very important and the aim of the platform is to provide information for both government agencies and business enterprises," he said.
Under the platform, a liasion office will be formed in Beijing to maintain regular contact with the member organisations and listen to their views for further improvement of the initiative. "Let us work together for the mutual benefits and shared prosperity."
Alfred Schipke, Senior Resident Representative for China of IMF (International Monetary Fund), laid emphasis on a stronger policy framework and fostering a partnership capacity development network.
Speaking at the discussion, Financial Express (FE) Editor Shah Husain Imam said China got seized with the opportunity wisely, when protectionism and trade war are raging.
Citing a recent ADB report, the FE editor recalled that Bangladesh had been fastest among the 45 economies in the Asia Pacific region and part of the credit might go to China.
Mr Imam referred to remarks of the Chinese envoy in Dhaka that if India were to join the BRI, it would not be just one plus one but eleven.
Peter Goodfellow, President of Global Presidium of Next Federation, highlighted the importance of authentic and fact-based data so that it is usable for all, especially for the investors who need actual information before making their investment decisions.
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