Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat is an academic from Indonesia whose research focuses on China-Indonesia-Middle East relations. He is a research professor at Korea Institute for ASEAN Studies, Busan University of Foreign Studies and an assistant professor at the Department of International Relations, Universitas Islam Indonesia. He is also a research affiliate at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore and a research associate at Jakarta-based Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF). Since August 2022, he has served as an associate at IDEAS, the London School of Economics’ foreign policy think-tank. In addition, he has held visiting professor positions at Bina Nusantara University and Universitas Paramadina. He received a B.A. in International Affairs from Qatar University, before completing an M.A. in International Politics and a Ph.D in Politics at the University of Manchester in the U.K.
The Belt and Road Initiative in the Gulf: Building “Oil Roads” to Prosperity
Although the Gulf is not highlighted on the official map of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, it is one of the main regions where the BRI is being implemented. On the occasion of President Xi Jinping’s speech at the 6th Ministerial Conference of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in June 2014, he declared the regional countries as being “natural cooperative partners in jointly building the BRI.” Since then, Chinese state and private firms, banks, and financial institutions have embarked on efforts to advance the BRI in the Gulf, particularly in the energy sector.
Historically, promoting dialogue between people of different nations has been a way to build bridges of understanding between countries. For example, since 1946, the U.S. Fulbright Exchange has served to strengthen relations between the United States and other countries. Similarly, as the partnership between China and the UAE has grown significantly in recent years, both governments have come to recognize the importance of overcoming linguistic-cultural barriers. They have therefore worked cooperatively to increase the number of Emirati and Chinese professionals who are acquainted with each other’s societal norms and customs, methods of performing business, and national and institutional interests.
