The "Belt and Road" Green Finance Cooperation Forum 2024 of the Asia Financial Cooperation Associati

On December 10, the Asian Financial Cooperation Association 2024 "Belt and Road" Green Finance Cooperation Forum was successfully held in Jakarta, Indonesia, with the theme of "Promoting the Green Development of the Belt and Road". The forum was hosted by the Asian Financial Cooperation Association and co-organized by Bank of China Co., Ltd., HSBC Bank (China) Co., Ltd., China Galaxy Securities Co., Ltd., and China Financing Guarantee Association. More than 100 Asian Financial Association members, financial institutions and corporate representatives from more than 10 countries and regions attended the forum.

Figure 1 Forum site

Yang Liyu, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the Asian Financial Association, and Wu Zhiwei, Counselor of the Economic and Commercial Department of the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia, delivered welcome speeches. Wei Hanguang, General Manager of the Corporate Finance Department of Bank of China, Wang Yunfeng, Vice Chairman, President and CEO of HSBC Bank (China), Xue Baohua, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Indonesian Chinese Chamber of Commerce and General Manager of China Taiping Insurance Indonesia, and Chen Lin, Vice President of the China Financing Guarantee Association, and other guests attended the forum and delivered keynote speeches. The forum was hosted by Fu Hao, Director of the Belt and Road Financial Cooperation Committee of the Asian Financial Association and Vice Chairman of the Global Business Development Professional Committee of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The forum promoted the Asian Financial Association's "Belt and Road" financial service information platform and one of its 2024 research topics - "Research on Financial Data Standardization in International Trade", and many members released and displayed relevant practical results of financial support for the joint construction of the "Belt and Road".

The forum held a roundtable discussion on the theme of "Investment and Financing to Promote the Construction of the Belt and Road Initiative and Promote Green Finance Cooperation Practices". The speakers shared and discussed how financial institutions can empower the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative through high-quality financial services including investment and financing, insurance, etc., help companies go global, and the green finance practices in the process of the Belt and Road Initiative construction.

The meeting lasted two days. On the afternoon of December 10, the plenary meetings of the Belt and Road Financial Cooperation Committee and the Green Finance Cooperation Committee were held. Representatives of the committee members shared their experiences and practical cases in the Belt and Road green finance cooperation and put forward constructive opinions and suggestions on the key tasks for the next year.

On the morning of December 11, the AFCA delegation held a seminar with representatives of local financial institutions and enterprises in Indonesia. Representatives of local Chinese financial institutions in Indonesia introduced the economic and financial situation in Indonesia, the general situation of financial institutions, the financial regulatory culture in Indonesia, and the compliance risks and localization challenges faced by financial institutions in supporting enterprises to go global; representatives of local enterprises in Indonesia such as ZTE, Chery Automobile, and China Energy Construction introduced the business environment in Indonesia and the opportunities and challenges faced by enterprises going global. After the meeting, members of the AFCA delegation said that this seminar helped member institutions to gain a deep understanding of the local business environment and financial ecology, and promoted exchanges and cooperation between members and local institutions in Indonesia. They hoped that the AFCA would continue to play the role of a platform and promote the fruitful results of pragmatic cooperation among member institutions.

Figure 2: Exchange meeting between the AFCA delegation and relevant institutions and enterprises

In order to further promote members to have a deeper understanding of the fruitful results of China-Indonesia cooperation in jointly building the "Belt and Road" and provide more personalized services to members, on the afternoon of December 11, the AFCA organized a delegation to conduct on-site research on the operation of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway. Zhang Chao, executive director of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway dispatched by China National Railway Group, introduced to the delegation the deep integration of China's high-speed rail standards with Indonesia's actual situation, and the cooperation between China and Indonesia in talent training and technology transfer. He also had in-depth exchanges with the delegation on the role of the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, a "golden bond", in promoting the improvement of people's livelihood, economic development, and regional connectivity.

Figure 3 Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway Exchange Activities

Indonesia is the first place where President Xi Jinping proposed the joint construction of the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road". This forum and related meetings successfully demonstrated the fruitful results of China-Indonesia practical cooperation under the framework of high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road", and laid a good foundation for the next step for the Asian Financial Association to work with its member units to promote the high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" mechanism.