China's 'One Belt, One Road', a drive for Great Britain's businesses?

OBOR will also see the development of six major economic corridors, including the New Eurasian Land Bridge, China-Mongolia-Russia, China-Central Asia-Western Asia, Indo-China Peninsula, China-Pakistan, which last year announced $46 billion in OBOR investments, and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar.

But this is more than just physical infrastructure. It is also about softer economic cooperation, policy coordination, trade and financing collaboration, and social and cultural cooperation. By connecting and enhancing the productivity of countries on the OBOR, China hopes that shared benefits will strengthen and expand friendships.

So I encourage Great Britain’s businesses to see this as an opportunity to share our expertise in financial services, public-private partnerships, legal, design, engineering, construction, chains and much more, just as we did for projects in Asia and Africa in the 19th century.

Great Britain’s businesses and professional services have grown over the last 10 to 20 years because of the growth in China and Asia, and even before that if we consider Arab and African worlds. We have been exporting Great Britain’s expertise – that is how we created the British Empire! Great Britain is poised to take advantage, use its expertise and enter OBOR countries and naturally replicate the same story. I am confident we can once again overcome the challenges of language, culture, traditions, legal systems and doing business in new countries.

It’s easy to argue why OBOR won’t work. The economics are questionable. The geographic coverage is unachievable. The financial returns won’t be attractive. And China is facing an economic transition and may get distracted from OBOR while domestically trying to sort problems out.

But the long-term fundamentals of China’s economy are sufficiently strong enough that we should keep believing in it. OBOR offers an exciting and compelling vision for China’s future as an economic powerhouse and the opportunity for Great British business to participate in future global success.

So do you want to sit on the side of the road and watch OBOR opportunities move on? Do you want to watch what could be the largest trading collaboration that could create a massive shift in infrastructure investment and trade pass by? Or would you rather go for a drive down the OBOR?

The author is the Chief Operating Officer of Faithful+Gould, Industry, Asia Pacific.