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Thursday May 02, 2024
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The Sri Lankan leg of the Standard Chartered Belt and Road Relay took place at the Arcade, Independence Square last evening, where eight staff athletes from the bank’s diverse footprint in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, continued their 90-day journey across the 44 Belt and Road markets.
The Standard Chartered Belt and Road Relay aims to highlight the bank’s continued commitment to Belt and Road, and the positive impact of the initiative to communities and businesses globally. It kicked off in Hong Kong on 17 February, in conjunction with the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, which is one of the biggest sports events in the city with over 74,000 runners, and will end in China on 11 May after the Belt and Road Forum.
“The Belt and Road Initiative is the most ambitious and far-reaching project of its kind in the world today. We are present in two-thirds of Belt and Road markets, and our rich heritage, deep local knowledge and unparalleled connectivity mean that we’re ideally placed to help our partners, clients and communities to make the most out of the initiative. By traversing these markets on foot and engaging local clients, governments, media and communities, our Standard Chartered Belt and Road Relay athletes will showcase our commitment to be the one bank for the Belt and Road,” stated Standard Chartered Group Chief Executive Bill Winters in a media release.
The Belt and Road initiative is core to Standard Chartered. In 2017, the bank committed additional financing for Belt and Road projects of at least $20 billion by 2020, and was involved in more than 50 Belt and Road deals worth more than $10 billion across a range of products and services.
The stories behind the races
Running an average of 10 kilometres in each destination, the athletes have so far completed 12 countries and run roughly 120 km in total.
“These 44 markets are very significant, in terms of the economic and maritime corridor it forms in terms of the Belt and Road Initiative. Clearly sitting here in Colombo there is no need for me to explain what the Belt and Road is, it’s very obvious,” said Standard Chartered Malaysia Investment and Product Management Head Danny Chang, an avid long distance runner who recently completed a 250 km Ultra Marathon.
“We woke up this morning, opened our curtains, and saw the real impact of it. In fact, driving in here yesterday we benefitted from that expressway from the airport into the city.” In Sri Lanka, Danny and his colleagues will be joined by some 30 representatives from Standard Chartered Sri Lanka, in what is the first-ever global running event spanning the Belt and Road initiative.
For SCB Singapore Relationship Manager Therese Nao, the race is an ideal way to connect with colleagues from different walks of life, while at the same time doing what they enjoy.
“The running is the part we look forward to the most. Firstly because we are used to exercising every day, and the actual running is a chance for us to stretch our legs after being on flights and being in hotel rooms,” said Nao.
“I think all of us really enjoy the fact that we get to interact with our local colleagues in each market and run with them. It’s like a shared experience, which we can then later, after this whole journey, speak to each other about, and send emails and photos. And that’s one way to connect with all our international colleagues.”
And while for many 90 days is a long time to be away from friends and family, the chance to travel the world and meet likeminded people was something none of them were willing to give up. In fact, many of them have had to put their lives on hold, but have done so without hesitation.
“Before this started, we didn’t really know each other, so now we’re really getting to know each other and we’re supporting each other quite a lot in the airports and stuff. It is quite a lot of early mornings. But if you’re up at 4.00 a.m., and by 6.00 a.m., it’s 300 people really excited about the race, it kinda helps to pick you up,” explained Jack Missin from SCB’s London Branch. “The chance to run in all these countries is just a once in a lifetime opportunity to see them.”
Naoadded: “My wedding celebrations and the big party was supposed to be in the middle of May, which would obviously be clashing with the end of this in May. So now we’ve pushed it back to July. But it was a very easy decision for us to make. It wasn’t as dramatic as you might imagine, there were no fights or arguments about it.”
Dina Elessaway, an Egyptian-born Relationship Manager based in Dubai, meanwhile does high-intensity workouts six times a week, and does heavy weightlifting and kickboxing in her spare time. While she’s never run competitively, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity too good to miss – even if that has resulted in her missing out on saying goodbye to her brother who is migrating to Australia.
“Two days ago, my older brother got a job opportunity and is moving out to Australia, and since I’m here I’m not gonna be able to say goodbye. I don’t know when I’m going to see him again. But to get it out of my system, I broke my personal record in Malaysia,” said Elessaway.
“But I am very satisfied with this, as it’s a chance to travel to 44 countries to see all the Belt and Road projects go live, and to run with colleagues and clients and to connect with everyone.”
For Herman Kambugu, a regular marathon runner, including a 60 km run to help save the oceans, this was important enough to postpone a Master’s Degree.
“I had been admitted to a Master’s Degree in Data Communication and Software Engineering, and when I saw the video about this event, I sort of had to put it on hold, because I thought if I get in to this then I will miss a full semester,” he explained.
To follow the progress of the Standard Chartered Belt and Road Relay, or for more information onthe Belt and Road initiative, please visit www.sc.com/beltandroadrelay.
