Dr M attends roundtable at Belt and Road forum

The second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) enters its third and final day today with leaders attending a roundtable summit held at the scenic Yangi Lake in northern Beijing.

Located at the foot of Yanshan mountain, Yangi Lake or "Swan Lake" also hosted the inaugural forum two years ago as well as the 22nd annual gathering of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) leaders in 2014.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad arrived at the Yangi Lake Complex this morning and joined other leaders for the roundtable summit, where they are expected to deliberate on the way to move the infrastructure initiative forward.

The roundtable summit is divided into three sessions, with leaders discussing issues on connectivity, policy synergy and sustainable development related to the initiative.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who chaired the key event, also delivered a keynote speech at the start of the roundtable summit.

In his remarks, Xi expressed hope for the implementation of result-oriented Belt and Road projects where all participating parties share the benefits.

Leaders attending the roundtable summit will issue a joint communique at the end of the event.

Xi, who first proposed his signature infrastructure policy six years ago to revive the ancient Silk Road trade routes linking East and West via networks of rail lines, seaports, airports, pipelines and others, also opened the forum yesterday.

Leaders from 37 countries and 5,000 representatives from 150 countries are participating in this year's forum.

- Bernama