After Zhang Qian of the Western Han Dynasty passed through the Western Regions, China's silk and silk fabrics were transported from Chang'an to the west, through the Hexi Corridor and present-day Xinjiang, to West Asia, and then from West Asia to Europe. This is the famous "Silk Road".

It shows that China had established contact with Europe at that time, and China at that time was called the "Silk Country".

The Silk Road became a bridge for economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West.

Comparison of ancient and modern place names in the areas that the Silk Road passed through: Ancient times: Europe ← West Asia ← In present-day Xinjiang ← Hexi Corridor ← Chang’an now: Europe ← Turkey, Iraq, Iran ← In present-day Xinjiang ← Gansu Hexi Corridor ← Xi’an in present United Nations Chinese special program No. 9

Issue "UNDP launches "Silk Road Regional Project"" The United Nations Development Program recently launched the "Silk Road Regional Project" to promote development and cooperation in economy, trade, investment and tourism between China and the four Central Asian countries.

Below, Li Maoqi will introduce to you the specific content of this project: The "Silk Road Regional Project" was jointly launched by the United Nations Development Program and the governments of China and the four Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, with the purpose of reviving the Silk Road

The regions along the road have traditional advantages in economic cooperation in the three key areas of trade, investment and tourism.

UNDP held a kick-off meeting for this project in Beijing from February 15th to 17th.

Habner, the project's economic advisor, told us about the results of the meeting.

Cut1 Hubner: “We discussed and strategize on really how to… We discussed and analyzed some ideas in the plan with a strategic perspective. We discussed the potential of the five countries to cooperate with each other in economy, trade, investment and tourism, and launched the plan

Dialogue mechanism with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In addition, this meeting also studied the possibility of other countries participating and potential cooperation methods. "A lot of preparatory work was carried out before the launch of the "Silk Road Regional Project."

Research on the project actually started 10 years ago.

Cut2 Hubner: "I think it was a project of more or less the same size... The preparation phase was about the same size as it is now, but it took ten years and cost $1 million. This phase is the incubation and analysis phase.

At that time, the focus was mainly on exploring the prospects for cooperation between governments. Now in the second phase, our needs for the region are clearer, and the economic community and private enterprises have also joined in. In addition, the concept of investment and tourism has been added to the plan.

.” Currently, the participating countries of the “Silk Road Regional Project” include China and four Central Asian countries.

So how interested are other neighboring countries in it?

There are reports that Japan and South Korea are interested in this project.

Hubble gave a brief introduction to this.

Cut3 Hubner: “The interest really in these two countries is quite big…The interest in Japan and South Korea is indeed very big, and some of their individuals and groups have a strong interest in this project, especially the tourism part of it. They

They are active promoters of this plan and participate in almost every meeting. Although Japan and South Korea are not part of the Silk Road countries, these individuals may be invited to participate in the formulation of some plans. For example, we will select 10 to 12 United Nations.

Silk Road Cities, as experts in tourism, may be invited to participate in the selection process. In addition to Japan and South Korea, other countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Mongolia have expressed strong interest in joining this regional plan.

In addition, to our surprise, organizations and individuals from some Nordic and Eastern European countries also came to the meeting to look for cooperation opportunities. "The "Silk Road Regional Project" has a dialogue mechanism with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Russia is an important member of the organization. Is it willing to join the Silk Road project?

Habner said that although Russia is not a Silk Road country, it has always been concerned about this project because it is a close neighbor of China and four Central Asian countries and a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

At the just-concluded meeting on the project with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretariat, representatives of the Russian Federation once again expressed strong interest in the project.

Cut4 Hubner: “So we kept them informed about the preparation to the silk road… We have kept Russia informed about the progress of this project and also invited them to attend some of our meetings. However, due to our limited resources, we must still

Focusing on Central Asia, perhaps Afghanistan will be included soon. Now this agreement is a small-scale regional cooperation project, but in the future its scope may be expanded and it is expected to become a bridge between Asia and Europe.”

Although the US$1 million is not a huge amount of money among seed funds, it is not a small amount either.