BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY OF SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES

Abstract

The initiative known as the China Belt and Road Initiative was unveiled by Chinese President Jinping in 2013 and focus on the rebuilding the Silk Road Economic Belt and the twenty-first century Maritime Silk Road. The Initiative promoted job opportunities and development of infrastructure. This research paper examines the Belt   and Road Initiative and its impact on the economy of South Asian countries including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh   , Bhutan and Nepal respectively. The independent variable includes the China investment and dependent variables are GDP growth, GDP Per Capita, employment, trade import, trade export, government effectiveness and external dept level. The research is conducted through quantitative method and the multiple regression analysis is used to analyze the impact   of BRI on the economy of South Asian countries. The findings suggest that China BRI Investment has mixed impact on the economy of South Asian countries. The GDP growth and GDP Per capita has no significant impact, but the employment has a positive and significant impact .Additionally a moderate positive impact on trade import and export that indicating increasing economic activities. There is also a moderate relationship between BRI Investment , government effectiveness and the dept level .The analysis indicate that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has mixed impact on the economies of South Asian countries.