Business and Private Sector
"Private sector participation in the Greater Tumen Initiative is one of the most critical success factors in future. Constructive engagement and partnering with private business and investors will enormously contribute to achieving the programme’s goal.”
(Strategic Action Plan for the period 2006-2015 adopted by the five GTI member countries in September 2005).
Business Advisory Council (BAC)
GTI member countries demonstrated their commitment to improve the environment for investment in the Tumen River area, in particular foreign direct investment, (in order to make the GTR more attractive and competitive to investors) by taking a major step forward in November 2007, at the 9th Meeting of the GTI Consultative Commission in Vladivostok, Russia. They endorsed the establishment of the Business Advisory Council (BAC), a platform for the permanent dialogue between government and private sector, established with support of the United Nations Office for Partnership . This new institutional platform consists of senior business leaders from the countries of the Greater Tumen Region (the People’s Republic of China, Mongolia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea and Russian Federation) and foreign investors operating in these countries. The BAC operates as non- governmental entity and is private sector led and founded.
The BAC is comprised of three organs: an Executive Committee, a Congress and a Secretariat. The BAC Executive Committee provides strategic guidance on the overall framework of the BAC and makes recommendations to the GTI Consultative Commission and to the BAC Congress. The Executive Committee is chaired by Mr. James Zimmerman, Chairman Emeritus of the American Chamber of Commerce in China and co-chaired by Mr. Junhao Wang, CEO and Vice Chairman of Juneyao Group, China. The BAC Congress constitutes the main body of membership of the GTI-BAC and provides members with a platform for collaboration between countries and across sectors, including the prospect of international partners being able to provide advice and inputs for expanding local markets. The BAC Secretariat supports the work of the Executive Committee through the composition and distribution of meeting reports and policy briefings on the GTR in order to keep the Executive Committee fully informed of GTI, BAC and Member Government developments.
At present, the BAC consists of about 60 members who are high-level business representatives from different countries both within and outside the Greater Tumen Region, including multinational companies such as DHL, Standard Chartered Bank Group USA and Goldman Sachs, as well as business associations including the China-Britain Business Council, the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (EUCCK) and the American Chambers’ network. A Council of Young Leaders was also created in affiliation with the BAC to attract young business professionals to participate in its cause. The Tumen Secretariat is temporarily acting as Secretariat of the BAC for an initial period of two years.
After the inaugural BAC meeting which took place in November 2007 in Vladivostok, Russia, the BAC held its second meeting in Shanghai, China on 24 March 2008 and confirmed the high potential of Northeast Asia for new investment opportunities and highlighted the critical role of the private sector to foster economic development and prosperity in the region. The first BAC Congress, namely the 3rd BAC meeting, was successfully held in March 2009 in Mongolia, back-to-back to the first Joint GTI Consultative Commission - BAC , where the business community had the chance to meet directly the Government representatives of the GTI. This important event was aimed at promoting a constructive dialogue between the private and the public sector of the Greater Tumen Region.
Following the 3rd BAC meeting, in order to improve the effectiveness and flexibility of the BAC in promoting its goals, participants of the 3rd BAC meeting agreed to transform the BAC Steering Committee into the Executive Committee. Accordingly the 1st BAC Executive meeting was successfully held in Beijing on 27 October 2009. The next BAC meeting will be held in 2010 in China.
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