1

The Union of Arab Banks in coordination with the Asian Financial Cooperation Association (AFCA) held the China-Arab Banking & Business Forum, on Nov.13, 2018 in Beirut, themed "Building on the Belt and Road Initiative." The Forum was attended by the Honorary President of the Union of Arab Chambers and Chairman of Fransabank Group, Mr. Adnan Kassar, the Ambassador of China to Lebanon, Mr. Wang Kejian, and the Secretary General of the Union of Arab Banks, Mr. Wissam Fattouh, as well as several banking institutions and economic and financial actors.
Mr. Kassar highlighted in his speech the strategic Arab-Chinese relations and called for enhanced cooperation, partnerships and relations with the banking sector between China and the Arab world.
In his keynote remarks, Yang Zaiping, Secretary-General of the AFCA, raised "the urgent need for closer cooperation between China and the Arab world in the banking, financial and trade sectors."
Li Zunyang, Secretary-General of the International Chamber of Commerce for the Silk Road (ICC), disclosed the plan of the Chamber to establish an Arab-Chinese financial platform to finance infrastructure projects in the Arab World.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Jarrah Al-Sabah, Chairman of the Union of Arab Banks, said, "the forum serves as a platform for discussion aiming at finding mechanisms of cooperation between China and the Arab countries within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative and at enhancing the growing China-Arab relations, reflected on various levels through the Chinese Investments and projects available in many Arab countries."
According to Raed Charafeddine, first vice governor of Central Bank of Lebanon, the Country enjoys great potential in developing trade with China, confident about Lebanon’s Central Bank’s role in maintaining the Lebanese economy.
The Forum concluded on the signature of two memorandums of understanding with Fransabank, one signed with the Lebanese Ministry of Industry and the second one with the Asian Financial Cooperation Association. A decision on the establishment of the Arab China Investment Bank has been taken also during the conference.