ZHIANGJIAJIE, China – The Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce (SRCIC) is offering RMB50-billion funding (USD7.3 billion) for projects in the Philippines, its chairman Lu Jianzhong said.
Lu told reporters here that the SRCIC will make the Silk Road Development Fund available to different countries, particularly the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations.
“We hope to get some projects in the Philippines to be funded by Silk Road [fund],” Lu said in Chinese.
He added that these projects could be in tourism, cultural, and sustainability development.
He added that the international business group is open to project proposals from Filipino entities who would like to avail of the Silk Road financing.
SRCIC would also like to be involved in the developmental projects here, forging joint venture agreements to those who would tap the funding, said Lu.
Lu mentioned that the Silk Road fund will be sourced from the 129 SRCIC-affiliated chambers in 77 countries.
Lu said around USD1.5 billion to USD1.6 billion initial fund will be available starting next month under the said Silk Road financing program.
The SRCIC chair will make this announcement in the opening of the 2018 Silk Road Business Summit in this city in China’s southern Hunan province on Tuesday.
Strengthening economic and cultural ties with different countries is the Chinese businessmen’s initiative to support its government’s Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road or known as Belt and Road Initiative.
The Belt and Road Initiative aims to promote connecitivity among Asian, European, African, and Middle East countires through trade, investments, and cultural exchange.
The SRCIC was launched in December 2015 in Hong Kong.
The following year, the Philippines founded its local Silk Road chamber led by International Chamber of Commerce Philippines chairman and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman emeritus Francis Chua.
Chua is also a vice chairman of SRCIC. (Kris Crismundo/PNA)
