| dc.description.abstract | Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project is one of the most dominant trade policies initiated by the Chinese
government. It connects one hundred and forty-six countries occupying more than fifty per cent of the world's gross
domestic product. Thus, BRI has become an indispensable perspective of forecasting trade performance between
regions in the coming years. This study employs an evidence-based approach and critically evaluates the existing
arguments on the BRI project and the possible strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of the project with special
reference to Sri Lanka. Further, it attempts to summarize some key facts related BRI’s engagement in the regions
such as the South-East Asia, Europe, Indo-Pacific, and the South Asia. The findings of the study discover the heavy
domestic focus of the BRI objectives. Existing financial incompetence, lack of physical capital, and technology gap
are the main motives for developing economies to engage with the project. Geopolitical repercussions, security
problems, and the debt trap are the highlighted adverse impacts of BRI. Several developing countries like Nepal
have adequately accomplished the BRI projects domestically. Sri Lanka has benefited from BRI in several aspects
and experienced several difficulties in power rivalry, autonomy and independence, growing debt burden,
transparency and corruption. The study concludes the higher potential of BRI to approach developing countries'
growth-related shortages and the possibility of emerging geopolitical repercussions. Thus, it recommends
implementing a practical government framework to manage BRI domestically. This study recommends governments
to enhance transparency and accountability related to the project’s affairs, while maintaining economic feasibility
and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, practicing a rational process for project selection and
implementing efficient evaluation are recommended. | en_US |
