China’s Belt and Road initiative has sparked plenty of controversy: Just for starters, Chinese players will control more than 50 ports across its route, suggesting to some critics an empire in the making. But it is also having a multiplier effect in economic development: infrastructure development is igniting financial modernization and more. What are the economic and political consequences, and where are the biggest opportunities? The EastWest Institute’s Lora Saalman will moderate the discussion with author of High-Speed Empire Will Doig, Belt and Road investor Zubaid Ahmad, and infrastructure investor Peng Li, to explore the benefits and costs of China’s New Silk Road.
Speakers Bio
Zubaid Ahmad is the founder and managing partner of Caravanserai Partners LLC, a banking firm focusing on private equity investment opportunities arising out of the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past several years, Ahmad has followed the establishment of a number of G2G partnerships in facilitating infrastructure finance in developing countries. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and lives in Larchmont, New York.
Will Doig is the author of High-Speed Empire: Chinese Expansion and the Future of Southeast Asia. He is a journalist covering urban development and has been an editor at the Open Society Foundations, Next City, and The Daily Beast. He created and wrote Salon’s weekly “Dream City” column, and was a recurring guest on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation.” A graduate of George Washington University, he lives in New York City.
Peng Li. Peng is a Principal with Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, which is an infrastructure investment firm managing $14.9 billion of capital for its investors (as of March 31, 2018). Previously, Peng was the Head of Infrastructure and Energy investment for a Chinese Sovereign Wealth Fund’s North American practice. Prior to that, Peng worked for a number of private equity firm and investment banks mostly focused on the energy and infrastructure sectors. Peng holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Peking University. Peng lives in New York City.
Lora Saalman is vice president of the EastWest Institute’s Asia-Pacific program. Formerly, she served as the director of the China and Global Security Program at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, and has taught at Tsinghua University and the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. Saalman earned her Ph.D. at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where she was the first American to earn a doctorate from its Department of International Relations, completing all her coursework in Chinese.
When: Wed., Jun. 20, 2018 at 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Where: China Institute
100 Washington St.
212-744-8181
Price: Member $10; Non-member $15; Student Ticket $8
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China’s Belt and Road initiative has sparked plenty of controversy: Just for starters, Chinese players will control more than 50 ports across its route, suggesting to some critics an empire in the making. But it is also having a multiplier effect in economic development: infrastructure development is igniting financial modernization and more. What are the economic and political consequences, and where are the biggest opportunities? The EastWest Institute’s Lora Saalman will moderate the discussion with author of High-Speed Empire Will Doig, Belt and Road investor Zubaid Ahmad, and infrastructure investor Peng Li, to explore the benefits and costs of China’s New Silk Road.
Speakers Bio
Zubaid Ahmad is the founder and managing partner of Caravanserai Partners LLC, a banking firm focusing on private equity investment opportunities arising out of the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past several years, Ahmad has followed the establishment of a number of G2G partnerships in facilitating infrastructure finance in developing countries. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and lives in Larchmont, New York.
Will Doig is the author of High-Speed Empire: Chinese Expansion and the Future of Southeast Asia. He is a journalist covering urban development and has been an editor at the Open Society Foundations, Next City, and The Daily Beast. He created and wrote Salon’s weekly “Dream City” column, and was a recurring guest on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation.” A graduate of George Washington University, he lives in New York City.
Peng Li. Peng is a Principal with Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, which is an infrastructure investment firm managing $14.9 billion of capital for its investors (as of March 31, 2018). Previously, Peng was the Head of Infrastructure and Energy investment for a Chinese Sovereign Wealth Fund’s North American practice. Prior to that, Peng worked for a number of private equity firm and investment banks mostly focused on the energy and infrastructure sectors. Peng holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Peking University. Peng lives in New York City.
Lora Saalman is vice president of the EastWest Institute’s Asia-Pacific program. Formerly, she served as the director of the China and Global Security Program at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, and has taught at Tsinghua University and the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies. Saalman earned her Ph.D. at Tsinghua University in Beijing, where she was the first American to earn a doctorate from its Department of International Relations, completing all her coursework in Chinese.
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