“When I exchanged contact details with a member of staff from Zhuhai Port, I scanned and added his WeChat. It was then, I realized that soft marketing like this will be an effective way for Guangdong enterprises to go global as it’s close to people’s lives,” said Ong Wei Woon, journalist from Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao.
Ong Wei Woon is one of the foreign journalists that attended the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Forum (Guangdong) International Communication Forum in Zhuhai from September 19th to 21st.
They had the chance to approach the world reknowned scholars and entrepreneurs, gaining insight into President Xi’s signature project-the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as well as Guangdong’s place in the project.
Journalists from Southeast Asia interview with Thomas J Sargent, 2011 Nobel Laureate in Economics.[PhotoLi Jiangrui]
Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the former Prime Minister of France, said countries have to join this discussion. Right now, France has some projects, and some with Guangdong as well, in such fields as nuclear power and auto manufacturing,” he said.
The forum also highlighted the most topical issues in Guangdong, such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, advanced technology and “Made in Guangdong” brands.
Huang Jingyi, journalist from the Straits Times, said one of her focal points was “how the Greater Bay Area plays a role in the Belt and Road Initiative and how these projects could contribute to the economy of countries that are participating in it”.
Being the starting point for the Maritime Silk Road (an important component of the BRI), Guangdong does see a closer links to and increased number of joint projects along the Belt and Road.
According to a report released at the forum, Guangdong’s import and export volume with BRI countries hit 1503.69 billion RMB in 2017, up 14.9 percent year on year.
“Guangdong’s trade with ASEAN, EU and emerging markets has been growing vigorously. ASEAN for example, became the biggest import market and Guangdong’s fourth biggest export market in 2017,” it adds.
Lee Huay Leng, Head of the Chinese Media Group of Singapore Press Holdings, said Guangdong brands such as WeChat, Canton Fair and Sun Yat-Sen University are familiar to people in Singapore. But they also face challenges, and need to gain more knowledge about the local markets and adopt localized strategies.
Reported by Jasmine Yin
Filmed by Li Jiangrui
Edited by Wing Zhang, Simon Haywood
东南亚媒体访“海丝”起点 为“广东品牌”点赞
在珠海高栏港，新加坡联合早报记者王纬温说：“我刚才和珠海港集团员工交换信息时互加了微信。然后我猛然发现，粤企要‘走出去’通过这种‘软销’比‘硬销’更有效，因为它更贴近民生、更接地气。”
王纬温是来珠海参加第二届“21世纪海上丝绸之路”中国（广东）国际传播论坛（以下简称“海丝论坛”）的众多海外记者中的一员。9月19日－21日，他们采访了法国前总理拉法兰、诺贝尔经济学奖得主托马斯·萨金特等海内外“大咖”，了解到“外脑”对“一带一路”倡议的最新诠释，以及广东参与“一带一路”建设的成果与贡献。
“大家都应该积极参与到这场讨论中来。现在法国已有一批‘一带一路’项目，它们有的来自广东，近年来，我们与粤企在核电、汽车制造等领域合作越来越紧密，”拉法兰说。
本次“海丝论坛”也就“广东品牌国际传播”、“科技创新”、“粤港澳大湾区发展”等热议话题设立了平行分论坛，邀请海内外学者、专家发表演讲，吸引中外记者前来采访。
新加坡海峡时报驻香港记者黄瀞儀表示，她参加本次论坛最关注的议题是大湾区建设将在促进“一带一路”倡议中发挥怎样的作用，以及这些项目将如何推动沿线国家的经济发展。
论坛上还发布了《中国（广东）企业“一带一路”走出去行动报告（2017）》，并设立以科技性、互动性为特点的广东企业“走出去”成果展。《报告》指出，2017年，广东与“一带一路”沿线国家进出口额达15036.9亿元人民币，同比增长14.9%，占全省进出口总额22.1%；对东盟、欧盟等新兴市场贸易额增幅迅猛，以东盟为例，它已成为广东最大的进口市场和第四大的出口市场。
“微信、广交会、中山大学……新加坡、马来西亚两国民众所认识的广东品牌不限于企业，不止于当代。”新加坡报业控股华文媒体集团主管李慧玲指出，未来广东品牌应进一步提高其在海外的辨识度，需要扎根当地，精心的筹划与大规模的宣传。
记者：尹珏文
编辑：张莹、欧阳妍
拍摄、后期制作：李江锐
