Belt and Road: the view from CEE

International
23/11/2020
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China’s Belt and Road initiative has the potential to help nations across Central and Eastern Europe meet their perse and growing infrastructure needs. Nearly every country in the region has signed a Belt and Road agreement with China, and most are on the trade routes that China plans to enhance.

The latest in a series of Belt and Road reports from CMS examines the sentiment in CEE towards BRI, the sectors where most opportunities lie, the challenges that exist, and the steps Belt and Road participants can take to achieve success. The report also reflects on the success of BRI in Russia and key legal considerations there.

Highlights include:

  • almost equal proportions of CEE and Chinese respondents (49% and 48% respectively) see BRI opportunities in renewable energy, while about a third (32%) of CEE respondents plan to actively target such opportunities. This is a 21% increase on the number of participants who have targeted renewable projects in the past, an upward trend we expect to continue.
  • ‘Traditional’ BRI sectors are areas which continue to attract the most interest; nearly three-quarters (73%) of CEE businesses view roads projects as one of the sectors offering the most opportunity, followed by the logistics sector (65%).
  • a strong consensus that the coronavirus pandemic will lead to a greater interest in the Health Silk Road (HSR) – an overwhelming majority of 94% of CEE respondents say they expect this to happen.
  • legal and regulatory issues are the most cited risks in BRI projects for CEE participants. Almost three quarters (72%) saw them as one of their top five project risks.

After initial optimism the region has lagged behind others in developing Belt and Road projects, with various political, economic and operational issues slowing progress. Despite this, China has continued to develop trading relationships across the region, and Chinese companies have continued to win CEE contracts.

As BRI 2.0 gathers momentum and champions international cooperation, our report shows that there are reasons to be positive about the potential for BRI in CEE.

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