BRI: Entrepreneurship & Governance

Open collaboration on multi-national projects among entrepreneurs and enterprises are happening day in and day out. But if the projects are cited as success stories to evidence regional connectivity under the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI), they would have more impact. Those taking the wait-and-see approach might be encouraged to try so that they can also embrace a brighter future.

However, investing in emerging or new markets with unfavourable or unknown business environment is a risky business. Entrepreneurs and enterprises hesitate to jump onto the bandwagon if they could not reasonably manage the risks while exploiting the opportunities. Thus, public support in identifying and removing obstacles particularly those regulatory ones should help.

To capitalize on the politico-economic agenda, I think goodwill cooperation among governments is not enough. They need to demonstrate alternative entrepreneurship by providing the developmental-friendly environment that should secure equitable return on investment. Only when there is general proof of concept can BRI sustain its momentum and scale up.

Similarly, entrepreneurs and enterprises should also exercise due diligence in tackling the challenges as it is costly to fail. They should devise value-added business models minimizing their risks and maximizing their strengths - and therefore their likelihood of their business success. I believe entrepreneurship and governance in the BRI context is what both the public and private sectors cannot do without!