(this is part 1 of a 7-part series, see Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Part 7 here)

On 27 March 2019, the Africa Practice at Specht & Partner co-organized the Ambassadors Breakfast meeting on “Africa China Europe with focus on One Belt, One Road (OBOR)”.

The Breakfast meeting was co-organized with the Austrian Chinese Business Association (ACBA) and Society Magazin. Our panelists included H. E. Mrs Faouzia Mebarki, Ambassador of Algeria, H.E Mr Li Xiosi Ambassador of the Republic of China, H.E. Mrs Vivian Nwunaku Rose Okeke Ambassador of Nigeria, Mr M. Elyes Lakhal, Minister Counselor of the Embassy of Tunisia, Univ. Prof Dr, Adams Bodomo, and Mr DI Omar Al-Rawi member of the Local Council of Vienna, and Chairman of the Strabag Works Council. The meeting was well attended by members of the corporate, diplomatic, and NGO community interested in the OBOR project.

Overview by Dr Leopold Specht

As one of the biggest, most ambitious and most costly initiatives on the globe, the One Belt One Road initiative, is commonly misunderstood as being an exclusively Chinese infrastructure project. OBOR is an institutional initiative which has its own tailor made development bank and an investment fund, shareholders of which include several European Countries, with the European Union having a stake. The OBOR project spans over three continents and involves several countries in Asia, in Western Europe, Central Eastern Europe, as well as in the Horn of Africa, which serves to also connect several countries in the Western shore of Africa. Africa, via the Gulf of Aden, the Horn of Africa countries along the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal provides a bridge between China and Europe.

By promoting trilateral dialogues amongst African, Chinese and European businesses and international interest groups, the law offices of Specht & Partner together with the Austrian Chinese Business Association (ACBA) and Society Magazin hope to explore and facilitate future opportunities presented by this project. The Ambassador´s Breakfast meeting on Africa China Europe is the first of its kind, and kicks off talks on ways to constructively engage in a pluralist development model which strives to go beyond the old singular development model. It thus pursues a new development program that is dictated by and emanates out of the needs of the countries and regions concerned. This is of particular interest to Africa in its current developmental agenda, but is equally important for Europe as it requires the participation of the two continents in the OBOR initiative as partners on equal footing. The OBOR in terms of infrastructure project is an image of development steered by real economy, and not an economy steered by financial markets. This is an invitation to the European Union to participate in the initiative with our own development ideas in this global undertaking.

To learn more about the Ambassadors Breakfast meeting – Africa China Europe with focus on One Belt, One Road, please visit the other articles in our series:

Part 1: Dr. Leopold Specht’s remarks on the One Belt, One Road initiative (current page)

Part 2: The Chinese Ambassador to Austria, the Honorable Li Xiosi’s remarks on the One Belt, One Road initiative

Part 3: Professor Adams Bodomo of Ghana, Director of the Global African Diaspora Studies (GADS) Research Center at the University of Vienna, Austria, Chair of African Studies (Languages and Literature)

Part 4: H.E. Ambassador Vivian Nwunaku Rose Okeke is the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Slovakia and Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna

Part 5: H.E. Ambassador Faouzia Mebarki, Permanent Representative of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to the United Nations (Vienna)

Part 6: Minister Counselor Elyes Lakhal is the Economic & Political Counselor at the Embassy of Republic of Tunisia to Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia in Vienna

Part 7: DI Omar Al-Rawi, member of the Socialist Party of Austria