Held at UTAR Multipurpose Hall of Kampar Campus with a limited number of physical participants, the forum was also live-streamed through Zoom.

The forum, jointly organised by the Department of Student Affairs (DSA), Department of Soft Skills Competency (DSSC), Centre for Accounting, Banking and Finance, and Belt and Road Strategic Research Centre of UTAR, was a success and saw the participation of over 100 participants.

Themed ‘Belt and Road Initiative: Paving the Way to Mutual Respect, Sincerity and Sustainable Development’, the half-a-day forum served as a strategic platform, enabling participants to gain experiences and insights on topics such as the benefits and impacts of BRI on Malaysian economics.

Invited to officiate the forum was Deputy Minister of Education 1, Ministry of Education Malaysia Senator Dato’ Dr Mah Hang Soon, UTAR Council Chairman and Board of Trustees Member Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Ting Chew Peh, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Penang Dr Lu Shiwei, UTAR President Ir Prof Dr Ewe Hong Tat, UTAR Planning and Development Committee Advisor Tan Sri Hew See Tong, UTAR Council Members Ir Academician Datuk Hong Lee Pee and Hew Fen Yee, Organising Chairperson of International Forum on the Belt and Road Initiative 2021-cum-Vice President for Student Development and Alumni Relations of UTAR Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong, Universiti Malaya Dean of Faculty of Economics and Administration Prof Dr Edmund Terence Eric Boniface Gomez, and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Emeritus Professor Prof Dr Tham Siew Yean.

Also present at the opening ceremony of the forum were Head of DSA Kampar Chiang Jeng Fong, UTAR academics and staff.

Delivering his keynote address, Dato’ Mah said, “I believe many of you here will agree that this forum is an important platform to stress the impact of the Belt and Road initiative on the world economy. As we know, the Belt and Road Initiative aims at enhancing infrastructure connectivity and boosting trade and investment of Eurasian countries, spanning from China’s west through Central Asia to Europe. The Belt and Road Initiative is an open and inclusive platform for international economic cooperation. Being presented with tough competition and constantly facing new technological innovations, it is vital that our next generation is able to adapt to different shifts in global economies.  China’s commitment under the Belt and Road Initiative not only supports infrastructure development but also enhance integration and the sharing of resources and expertise.” He added, “I would also like to congratulate UTAR for their contribution towards the Belt and Road Initiative and for working alongside China and its educational institutions to carry the objectives of the initiative. UTAR has been collaborating with partner universities in China on R&D projects, academic and student exchanges. This is certainly a great way to promote educational advancement, cultural intelligence and knowledge exchanges that will help to shape our staff and students to be better leaders and contributors to society.”

Consul General Dr Lu congratulated the organisers for successfully organising the forum and explained, “China and Malaysia are working together to promote high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road, with further expansion of cooperation areas and more diverse forms of cooperation. However, in the process, some issues were encountered such as insufficient awareness of the Belt and Road Initiative, and insufficient research and publicity by experts and scholars. The research team at UTAR is currently working hard to study the BRI from the perspective of Malaysia and China-Malaysia cooperation. It is hoped that more people will join the BRI research and construction, seize the opportunity, and actively participate and promote the BRI between China and Malaysia. We look forward to seeing the two countries work together in the post-pandemic era, strengthen practical cooperation in various fields, accelerate the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road, create more bright spots for cooperation, bring more benefits to the two countries and their people and further promote China-Malaysia comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level.”

Expressing his gratitude to the organising committee for organising such a meaningful forum on BRI, Prof Ewe said, “This forum will indeed be an interesting and educational one with participation from knowledgeable experts who are here to share their experience and relevant data. Your invaluable experience and knowledge will certainly enlighten the participants and pave the way for greater understanding, mutual respect and cooperation for more sustainable long-term ties and economic development. This platform will hopefully encourage participants to understand better the Belt and Road Initiative that has brought many benefits across participating economies.”

He added, “UTAR is indeed glad to have this opportunity to host this Belt and Road Initiative Forum with the support of the China Consulate in Penang. Incidentally, Consul General Dr Lu Shiwei will be launching the BRI Activity Centre at UTAR Kampar Campus. This centre will support Belt and Road Initiative student activities, soft skills enhancement activities as well as international cultural exchange activities. It will be a hub for students to gather and discuss Belt and Road Initiatives and related matters. This Belt and Road Forum is the first activity of the BRI Activity Centre. On behalf of UTAR, I would like to express my heartiest appreciation to Consul General Dr Lu Shiwei for his kind and generous support and contribution towards the BRI Forum and the BRI Activity Centre.”

The ceremony ensued with the launching of the Belt and Road Activity Centre by Consul General Dr Lu, witnessed by Dato’ Mah and Prof Ewe. The Belt and Road Initiative Activity Centre aims to provide a facility to run a variety of soft skills programmes, activities and services for UTAR students.  It is also to support UTAR students in performing online collaborative learning with students from different institutions. The Centre will serve as a conference facility, book reading sharing corner and handicraft or New Village product selling and display store.

Subsequently, the ceremony continued with a souvenir presentation and group photograph sessions, followed by three informative talks by three speakers, namely Prof Dr Edmund Terence Eric Boniface Gomez, Prof Dr Tham Siew Yean and Prof Dr Choong Chee Keong.

To further stimulate discussions and exchange of ideas, three talks were held, namely “China in Malaysia: The New Order of Investment Flows” by Prof Edmund, “The Tale of Two Ports in Malaysia: Kuantan and Melaka Compared” by Prof Tham, and “The Impact of Belt and Road Initiatives on the Manufacturing Sector in Malaysia: A Review and Some Perspectives” by Prof Choong.

Enlightening participants on “China in Malaysia: The New Order of Investment Flows”, with insights based on a book bearing the same title, was Prof Edmund. The book was co-authored with Visiting Senior Fellow of ISEAS -Yusof Ishak Institute Prof Dr Tham Siew Yean.

His talk highlighted the diversity of China’s investments in Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia. He explained that the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by China President Xi Jinping in 2013 caused a surge in investments, and saw state-state ties forged. Participants also learnt about the emergence of diverse State-Business Relations (SBRs) and the impact BRI had on structural power, institutional architecture, and financial-industrial ties. According to Prof Edmund, with the emergence of SBRs, the relationships formed were more of public-public partnerships.

Prof Edmund also informed participants that there are 92 China-related projects in Malaysia and the nature of SBRs ranged from private-private to state-private, state-private-private, state-state-private, state-state, and China firms only. He explained that these projects are invested in sectors, namely industrial/manufacturing, services, constructions, infrastructure, and agriculture, in various states of Peninsular Malaysia, including Penang, Perak, Selangor, Johor, Malacca, and Pahang. He then further elucidated the impacts of these projects on Malaysia’s enterprises and economic development objectives.

He concluded with notes on the first attempt to quantify and assess SBRs with growing state-state ties, while highlighting that more research is still needed. The varieties of state-directed and dictated SBRs have also led to mixed outcomes, however, he assured that state-led SBRs are effective with many being productive. With the right institutional architecture and industrial policy, two key functions can be promoted, which are authoritative policy-driven allocation, and nurturing of new industries and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Participants also noted that with assistance from the government, supply chains with SMEs can build firm capabilities, obtain knowledge spill-overs, encourage technological upgrading, and even increase investment in Research and Development (R&D). As a final note, Prof Edmund reiterated that the varieties of SBRs have produced different political and economic outcomes and implications; SRBs are no longer based on public-private partnerships, instead, it sees State-Owner Enterprises (SOEs) and Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) as the key economic actors; and the outcomes in short term basis are productive while taking into consideration the huge influence of Chinese SOEs in Malaysia economy in the long term.

Focusing on the comparison of projects between Kuantan Port Expansion and Melaka Gateway in Malaysia, Prof Tham spoke about how host country actors could oppose, subvert and veto infrastructure initiatives in BRI projects despite China’s strong financial and political influence worldwide.

In her talk session titled “A Tale of Two Ports: Kuantan and Melaka Compared”, Prof Tham presented the differences between Kuantan Port Expansion and Melaka Gateway projects. According to her, an investment coalition refers to the alliance or partnership formed between international investors and “host state actors” to promote a project. It is a key variable underpinning eventual success or failure. She explained, “The foreign investors form alliances or ‘coalitions’ with actors in the host state because of three reasons; to protect their investment; to learn which formal and informal channels of communication to use, as well as to navigate through the local political context.”

According to Prof Tham, Kuantan Port Expansion and Melaka Gateway are different in terms of investment coalitions. Both projects have chosen different national economic elites. The Kuantan Port Expansion project was supported by the Federal Government and IMJ Corporation Berhad (a government-linked corporation). In this project, the IMJ Corporation Berhad (a national economic elite) holds about 60 per cent of shares and is able to take a domestic loan from Maybank Malaysia. This project is also part of the development of the East Coast Economic Region. It is supported by the Federal government for RM1million funding. Besides that, the Kuantan Port Expansion project will also receive continued support despite the changes in the administration of the country.

On the other hand, the Melaka Gateway project is notable because its investment coalition has no participation from influential government-linked corporations that are active in the infrastructure sector. Despite the project’s scale, as well as expertise and backing from China’s political elite, the consortium led by PowerChina chose small-scale and ineffectual local partners led by a particular company. The project also lacked support from the national political elite and Melaka’s local political elite. As a result, the progress of the work turned out to be slow and inefficient. In 2018, the former Federal Minister of Transport, Anthony Loke stated that he saw “no sign of work” on the project. After two years, the Melaka state government terminated the sea reclamation agreement with the said company because its work failed to meet a satisfactory level even three years after signing the deal in 2017.

As a conclusion in her talk, Prof Tham said, “In investment coalition, the domestic actors are vital in understanding the eventual success or failure of specific projects, due to the resources and capital they bring, as well as their ability to navigate the local political context. Identifying suitable partners from both parties (Malaysia and China), identifying suitable projects as well as maintaining win-win situations are the key majors we have to put into consideration to bring success to the BRI projects.”

Last but not the least, in his talk Prof Choong first made a brief introduction on BRI and its objectives. He then introduced some BRI-related projects in Malaysia such as the East Coast Rail Line (ECRL), Bandar Malaysia, Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP), Kuantan Port, Melaka Gateway, Xiamen University Malaysia Campus, China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation and Geely-Proton Automotive Collaboration. He explained, “The implementation of BRI in the regional economy is an inevitable future situation. Malaysians need to learn to embrace it instead of resisting it. Every party plays a role in helping Malaysia to gain optimum benefit from the BRI. Federal and state governments need to educate the public to enhance their awareness of the BRI. Trade associations and businessmen have to be proactive and increase their participation in the BRI projects. Meanwhile, there should be more studies  conducted by academics to understand BRI better and provide feedback to the stakeholders. The media should maintain a neutral position when disseminating information to the public. It must be understood that BRI is not entirely harmful and it can be beneficial to Malaysia. In the meantime, civil society organisations could be proactive in governing, especially the environmental issues, because a society that has strong governance will definitely push the government to be more responsible. Thus, ‘check and balance’ could happen between the government and other stakeholders, and Malaysians can benefit from the BRI in the end.”

The forum ended with a closing remark by Prof Choong.