The Belt and Road Initiative is forging a "version 2.0" of globalization, serving as a new model for global sustainable growth, an energy expert in Hong Kong has said.

Patrick Ho Chi-Ping, deputy chairman and secretary general of the China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC), made the remarks in a recent interview with Xinhua.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, aiming at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes of Silk Road.

The Belt and Road Initiative is an inclusive initiative, Ho said, adding that it aims at creating demand and jobs for countries along the routes through infrastructure construction, such as railways, roads, docks and pipelines, to tackle the economic growth imbalance and achieve common prosperity.

The initiative links globalization and sustainable development together, setting the right direction for economic globalization and forging a new growth model to better safeguard world peace and prosperity, Ho noted.

Furthermore, the initiative highlights not only economic cooperation, but also mutual respect and equal dialogues between different civilizations, he said.

As countries along the routes have distinctive traits in culture and religion, Ho highlighted that the initiative will promote cultural dialogues, and boost mutual understanding, tolerance, peace and common development among peoples in those countries.

The CEFC is a Hong Kong-based think tank devoted to public diplomacy with emphasis on energy and culture. It is a non-governmental organization with special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2017)