Siemens embraces Belt and Road Initiative

Siemens entered into more than ten agreements with Chinese partners today in support and exploration of opportunities from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). At the Belt and Road International Summit held by Siemens today, more than 1,000 leaders and executive representatives from governments, enterprises, investors, financing institutions and think tanks from more than 30 countries and regions gathered. The cooperation, signed with a number of leading Chinese enterprises - including for example China Gezhouba Group Corporation International Engineering Co., Ltd., Guangdong Yuedian Group Co., Ltd., China National Chemical Engineering Group Corporation Ltd. (CNCEC), China Railway Construction Corporation (International) Ltd., China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and China Resources Cement Holdings Ltd. - covers power generation, energy management, building technology and intelligent manufacturing, and it targets market potentials of countries and regions such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Nigeria, Mozambique as well as South America. 

“As a long-term and well-established partner of China and its industries, we support the call of the Belt and Road Initiative and take another solid step forward on a larger scale and a wider scope”, said Joe Kaeser, President and CEO of Siemens AG, witnessing the signing taking place during the Belt and Road International Summit in Beijing. “BRI has proven to be a wise and powerful force for accelerating infrastructure development already in many participating countries. Siemens is uniquely positioned to help ensure sustainable success of the BRI through its vast technology portfolio, in-depth knowledge of local market needs based on a long-standing local footprint in the respective economies as well as the ability to create local value for these societies.” 

Siemens is among the first global companies to partner with Chinese EPCs (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) in their “go global” endeavor. “BRI is all about infrastructure and bridge-building. It is about bridges connecting societies, economies and cultures but also about bridges between the physical infrastructure and the digital world”, said Cedrik Neike, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG. “Siemens is the number one infrastructure company when it comes to linking those worlds and being able to establish a digital ecosystem. It is our vision to co-create a ‘digital silk road’.”

Siemens has been joining forces with over 100 leading Chinese EPCs in more than 100 countries and regions for more than two decades. For example, Siemens helped China Tianchen Engineering land the biggest order ever won by a Chinese company in Turkey - to build one of the world’s largest soda ash factories. This project, put into operation at the end of 2017, greatly promoted Turkish exports and created around 2,000 local jobs. Furthermore, in September 2017, Siemens supported China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) enter the world’s most advanced gas power market by winning the first H-class gas power plant EPC project - Punjab Power Plant Jhang in Pakistan. The new power plant will be capable of providing an amount of electricity that is equivalent to the total consumption of about four million Pakistani households.

“By connecting multiple stakeholders of BRI, by providing innovative and digital technologies and by working closely together with our Chinese partners we continue to support a successful, open and fair international collaboration,” said Lothar Herrmann, CEO Siemens Greater China. Carsten Hasbach, Head of Strategy & Business Development in Russia, will be leading the new BRI Office in Beijing. “We are also happy to introduce Carsten Hasbach, who will be heading the Siemens B&R Office in Beijing with the main task to facilitate and strengthen the interaction with different stakeholders”, Herrmann explains.