The economic corridor phenomenon contains many direct and indirect opportunities for both the states it passes through and other states. An economic corridor makes it possible to increase economic abundance within the regions and countries it passes through and to solve problems such as unemployment that affect the stability of states from the very beginning. The oldest example of the economic corridor phenomenon is the Silk Road, which starts from China and extends into Europe. It continued its effectiveness for approximately 15 centuries, contributing to the increase in economic abundance in the regions it passed through. In this way, the welfare of the people along the Silk Road route has increased significantly.
The importance of the Silk Road decreased with geographical discoveries and eventually disappeared completely. By 2013, the Silk Road, whose name has taken its place in historical books for nearly 500 years, began to gain importance once again in the global arena. At this point, the statements made by Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding the project at a conference held at Nazarbayev University on September 7, 2013, serve as an example: [1]
“We can jointly create the Silk Road Economic Belt by developing a new spirit of cooperation with a creative spirit in order to further intensify the connections between all countries in the Eurasian region, further deepen mutual cooperation and open a wider horizon for development. This will be a magnificent cause that will serve the happiness of all countries on its route.”
As stated in Xi’s statements, over time, it has been seen that the states along the route have benefited from the Belt and Road Project in many areas. Although the project has been requested in many regions from Asia to Africa, this has not caused the Belt and Road Project to be welcomed by Western states. In fact, many Western states have expressed opinions against the project at different periods. The United States of America (USA) comes first among these states due to competition from China.
The USA has sometimes made various attempts to eliminate China in the competition in order to limit its economic power. Perhaps the most well-known of the initiatives interpreted as this type of approach is the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Although it included many states from both Asia and America and had great potential, it did not last long. It lost its function when former US President Donald Trump came to power in 2017.
A new one was added to these initiatives with the memorandum of understanding signed on the sidelines of the G20 Summit held in New Delhi, the capital of India, in September 2023.2[2] IMEC, whose real name is the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, has attracted some attention because it is on the same route as China’s Belt and Road Project and starts from India, which has not participated in the Belt and Road Project. IMEC, which has great similarities with the Historical Spice Road when its historical form is examined, can be read as signals of a commercial competition between India and China.
These activities of India, which stands out with its increasing foreign trade and expertise in technology, are largely similar to China. India’s total exports in 2022 increased by 12.12% [3] compared to the previous year, reaching 453.48 billion dollars. [4] The biggest customer in increasing exports was the USA with a share of 18%. [5] The largest exported item is fuel with 98.47 billion dollars, precious stones and pearls with 39.27 billion dollars, machinery and nuclear reactors with 27.50 billion dollars, and electrical-electronic products with 26.57 billion dollars.[6]
When the trade data for 2022 is examined, it is observed that the Chinese economy is also growing steadily. As a matter of fact, the increasing amount of exports since 2019 increased by 4.51% [7] in the 2021-2022 period. In addition, it is seen that China’s largest commercial partner among its total exports of 3.71 trillion dollars [8] is the USA with 582.76 billion dollars and 17% of the total exports are made to this country. [9] The largest item in China’s exports is electrical-electronic products, with 27% of total exports, that is, 954.78 billion dollars[10] Machinery and nuclear reactors come in second place with a rate of 15%, followed by vehicles such as cars and trains with a rate of 4.2%.[11]
As can be seen, when the historical similarities of IMEC and the Belt and Road Project are read with developments such as the US-China rivalry, the idea that IMEC was put forward as a counter move to the Belt and Road Project comes to mind. Because the overlap of the largest commercial partner and many trade items that take up a large part in exports leads to this situation.
As a result, the Belt and Road Project has achieved many successful collaborations since the day it was shared with the public. When examined in terms of commercial data and historical facts, it is natural to read IMEC as a step taken against the Belt and Road Project. But time will tell whether this is the case and whether IMEC will be as successful as the Belt and Road Project.
[1] Xi Jinping, Çin’in Yönetimi, Kaynak Yayınları, Ankara 2017, s. 339.
[2] “Memorandum of Understanding on the Principles of an India – Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor”, The White House, www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/09/09/memorandum-of-understanding-on-the-principles-of-an-india-middle-east-europe-economic-corridor/, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.09.2023).
[3] “India Exports 1960-2023”, Macrotrends, www.macrotrends.net/countries/IND/india/exports#:~:text=India%20exports%20for%202022%20was,a%201.74%25%20decline%20from%202018., (Erişim Tarihi: 15.09.2023).
[4] “Export of goods from 2012 to 2022”, Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/263662/export-of-goods-from-india/, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.09.2023).
[5] “India Exports By Country”, Trading Economics, tradingeconomics.com/india/exports-by-country, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.09.2023).
[6] Aynı yer.
[7] “China Exports 1960-2023”, Macrotrends, www.macrotrends.net/countries/CHN/china/exports, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.09.2023).
[8] “Which Country Is the Largest Exporter of Goods in the World?”, Investopedia, www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/011915/what-country-worlds-largest-exporter-goods.asp, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.09.2023).
[9] “China Exports By Country”, Trading Economics, tradingeconomics.com/china/exports-by-country, (Erişim Tarihi: 15.09.2023).
[10] Aynı yer.
[11] Aynı yer.
Elcan TOKMAK