The Central Asia and Western China Meeting was successfully held in Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic on May 31. The meeting with the theme of Belt & Road Investment Partnership: Enhance The Financial And Industrial Cooperation Between Central Asia And Western China was co-hosted by Chengdu Municipal People’s Government, the Ministry of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic and AIFC Green Finance Centre, co-organized by Chengdu Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, Kyrgyz Stock Exchange (KSE), and Regional Chapter in Central Asia for Green Investment Principles for the Belt and Road, and intelligently supported by China Innovation Finance Institute | Chengdu and Federation of International Financial Centres & International Innovation Centres (IFC•IIC Federation). More than 40 high-level officials and experts from China, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Kazakhstan attended the meeting. In October 2023, Chengdu and Bishkek signed relevant agreements on friendly cooperation, and the meeting further fostered the friendship between the two cities.
The meeting kicked off with a Russian promotional video about Chengdu. In his opening remarks, H.E. WANG Fengchao, Mayor of Chengdu Municipal People’s Government, extended a warm welcome and heartfelt gratitude to the guests on behalf of Chengdu and introduced the industries, openness, and vitality of Chengdu. At last, he emphasized his expectations of deepening exchange with the Central Asia region on the Belt & Road cross-border investment and financing, green finance, and financial technology, among others, and mutual sharing of high-quality resources to jointly promote cross-border investment and trade between enterprises for the regional high-quality development enabled by high-quality financial services.
H.E. Tchoro Seyitov, First Deputy Minister of Economy and Commerce of the Kyrgyz Republic, warmly welcomed the guests who attended the meeting in Bishkek, on behalf of the Kyrgyz Republic and elaborated on the industrial scale, demographic structure, and cultural characteristics of the Kyrgyz Republic and Bishkek. In the end, he expressed the wishes of the Kyrgyz Republic to work with Chengdu in jointly facilitating the Belt & Road Initiative, deepening cooperation in various fields, and promoting the common growth of regional economies.
Mr. Daniyar Kelbetov, Chairman of the Management Board of AIFC Green Finance Centre, expressed a warm welcome to the leaders and experts attending this meeting in his speech, and extended AIFC’s desire to cooperate with the Kyrgyz Republic and Chengdu to foster the sustainable financial development of Central Asia and the Western China Financial Centre.
In his keynote speech, Mr. LIANG Qizhou, General Director of Chengdu Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, introduced the financial development of Chengdu, and expected to collaborate with the institutions in the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan and promptly enhance the exchanges in innovative capacity and international financial cooperation.
H.E. Manas Zhakypov, Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic, introduced the financial development of the Kyrgyz Republic and expressed his wishes to further exchange with financial institutions in Kazakhstan and Chengdu and to share the experience and ideas of regional financial market development and financial governance.
Mr. Medet Nazaraliev, President of KSE, elaborated on the operation of KSE and welcomed the companies from Kazakhstan and Chengdu to list on KSE, in order to foster multilateral financing of the Belt & Road Initiative.
Mr. Birzhan Astayev, Chief Markets and Products Officer of AIX, outlined the conception for developing integrated regional capital markets, reviewed the financial partnership between the Kyrgyz Republic and Chengdu, and expected to jointly promote the innovation of cross-border financial products and services in the future.
After the remarks, witnessed by the guests from the Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan, Mr. LIANG Qizhou, General Director of Chengdu Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, signed MOUs with Astana International Financial Centre Authority and AIX, respectively. Meanwhile, the milestone event the Central Asia Office of Western China Financial Centre achieved, preliminarily approved by the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), was officially announced on the spot.
As one of the key outcomes, Mrs. Aigul Kussaliyeva, Advisor of AIFC Green Finance Centre, on behalf of the Central Asian partners, debuted the STATE OF SUSTAINABLE FINANCE IN CENTRAL ASIA research report at the event. The report gives an in-depth analysis of the current landscapes and future of sustainable financial development in Central Asia, serving as the first-of-its-kind thematic research.
The event was moderated by Mr. Calvin Chenggang Fu, Chairman of China Innovation Finance Institute | Chengdu.
