MOSCOW (Sputnik) – China's new Silk Road Economic Belt project possesses great potential to benefit Russia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Business Council’s Executive Secretary Sergei Kanavsky told Sputnik Friday.
"The potential is enormous, the potential is big, interesting… The benefit that Russia can enjoy from this common movement from the east to the west is that, at least, inside the process we can control it and [influence] some projects which are necessary for Russia, for the development of the region and the neighboring countries," Kanavsky said.
The project is currently in the development stage, Kanavsky stressed.
The SCO Business Council is considering cooperation in such spheres as logistics and infrastructure projects, which would be interesting within the framework the Silk Road Economic Belt, Kanavsky noted.
On May 14-15, Beijing will house a high-level forum on international cooperation within the "One Belt, One Road" strategy. The heads of 28 states and governments, including Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to take part in the event.
In 2013, China announced its new strategy of economic development, called "One Belt, One Way," which aims at establishing infrastructure in Eurasia for the creation of a trade corridor that will directly supply goods from the eastern to western part of the continent on favorable terms. It encompasses two main directions of development: Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road.
