Philips shines a light on initiative

Editor's Note: Three years ago, President Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road Initiative, to link vast transcontinental swathes with a common economic thread. The initiative brought unprecedented opportunities to companies to expand their business and access new markets. China Daily presents a series of interviews with top executives of foreign companies, looking at the impact of the initiative on their operations as well as markets. Eric Rondolat, chief executive officer of Philips Lighting, discusses his intention to build research and development centers, manufacturing facilities and high-tech products in China to develop markets along the Belt and Road Initiative.

Philips Lighting Holding BV, a Euronext-listed company, plans to accelerate its innovative pace and expand its production capacity at its Chengdu research and manufacturing base in Sichuan province to ship more products to countries along the Belt and Road Initiative over the next decade.

He said many of these opportunities come from countries' increasing demand for infrastructure, public services and manufacturing projects, as well as domestic use, especially in fast-growing economies such as Turkey, Kazakhstan, Poland and Qatar.