The Asia Research Centre Vistula University invite you to the
International conferences
Chinese Belt and Road Initiative – inspiration from the historical past, contemporary times and future scenarios.
18th and 19th June 2018
Wydział Biznesu i Stosunków Międzynarodowych AFiBV
Stokłosy Street 3, 02-787 Warszawa,
Individual researchers’ and national narrations related to the ancient Silk Road – one of the greatest historical symbols of our civilization – may differ in many details, but its leading ideas still appeal to us now and can inspire contemporary thinking and activities. This ancient history continues to develop as a result of Chinese leadership’s decisions known officially to the world from 2013 as the Belt and Road Initiative. In its global dimension the initiative attempts to create new structures and economic phenomena of unprecedented caliber, but the “New Silk Road” of modern times can also affect the future of particular countries, their regional groups and – on the other end – the fate of individual people as consumers and producers.
The Asia Research Centre at the Academy of Finance and Business Vistula in Warsaw, Poland would like to invite you to discuss the many aspects of these processes here in Warsaw. On main maps of the Belt and Road project, the routes of the planned transportation channels lead from China and Central Asia to Western Europe through Poland. Also, Poland has been a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, one of the basic financial institutions of the Belt and Road Initiative, since 2016.
There are many challenges regarding efficient implementation of the gigantic Chinese project, however Belt and Road Initiative may also create additional development chances for the region of Central and Eastern Europe in the broader context of the whole Europe and the world.
The conference’s task is to continue discussion on a broad spectrum of various aspects of the Belt and Road Initiative as seen from different time perspectives:
- the ancient history of the Silk Road,
- the phenomena associated with the current implementation of the Initiative,
- vision of the future: long-term prospects for the implementation of this global
It is the intention of the organizers to further develop international discussion on Belt and Road Initiative in different time frames and to open up some new threads of thinking in three different, though interrelated dimensions: the political, economic and the cultural one.
The subject of the conference is therefore complex and multi-layered, but at the same time – we hope – intellectually sufficiently attractive. Through conference discussions, Polish and international academia, as well as business practitioners, will be attempting to add new vectors of understanding to the issues involved. Our goal is to address and respond to some of the major Belt and Road Initiative–related dilemmas facing modern Poland, Europe and the world.
We hope that this event will not only be an excellent forum for a discussion, but also – a starting point for further joint research and other initiatives.