Is Beijing’s grand strategy benefiting smaller companies?
When it comes to the extent to which the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ is generating opportunities for small- and medium-sized outfits across the route, opinions are divided
Beijing’s global economic strategy, the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI), provides great opportunities for large companies along the proposed overland and maritime routes, but small businesses appear to be missing out, according to China expert, Ashley Galina Dudarenok.
The founder of Alarice International, a marketing agency focusing on China social media, and ChoZan, a platform to help marketers understand China’s digital world, says that Beijing’s initiative, when first launched, seemed attractive to all types of businesses with small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looking forward to working with the bigger companies and state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
However, Dudarenok, a Russian who spent five years in China and is now based in Hong Kong, says she has yet to see the drip-down effect of the initiative, which is aimed at fostering connectivity and cooperation in Eurasia.
“As for OBOR [one belt, one road, now called the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’] in my view – and in what I see across OBOR countries – the opportunities are not there for SMEs, but rather for big, often state-owned, construction companies and service businesses,” Dudarenok says. “Contract for tenders are often acquired through corrupt practices.
“I deal with a lot of companies in Russia and other countries that are supposed to be part of the OBOR initiative, and I have yet to see small businesses having meaningful and beneficial participation.
“The whole OBOR exercise is largely a PR exercise for China, which is great for China, yet not necessarily for many other countries. As a leading regional and global power, China is definitely benefiting from it.”
