The second Belt and Road Forum is being held in Beijing. With 37 heads of state or government and heads of the UN and IMF attending the summit, the Forum has become one of the highest-level diplomatic events China has hosted since the founding of the People's Republic of China itself.

During the past five years, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been welcomed by more than 150 countries and 90 international organizations, including the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

How does the BRI relate to the SDG? And what can the United Nations do to support the Belt and Road Initiative while fulfilling its own commitments?

According to Nicholas Rosellini, United Nations Resident Coordinator and Highest-level Representative of the United Nations in China, the SDG include goals related to developing countries infrastructure improvement, such as roads, ports and other transport infrastructures, related to energy for all, related to industrialization, related to decent jobs for people and related to worldwide poverty eradication.

Hence, there are plenty of opportunities for the BRI to contribute to solving problems that SDGs are intending to solve as well.

"I think if we can ensure that the Belt and Road investment is geared towards some of the SDG goals in terms of helping countries to industrialize, improving the infrastructure, trying access to energy. I think that will be a great benefit for the partner countries," he said.

The UN has a worldwide network in developing countries in which the UN is supporting them in implementing their national development objectives, such as the promotion of institutional capacities for the purpose of reaching appropriate regulations and having policies in place in which the investment required coincides with BRI's investment program.

"For the United Nations, we have the interest to ensure the sustainable development goal to be reached and we promote sustainable investment in the SDGs. So that means investment do reach all parts of society that benefit all group of society and (the investment is) environmental friendly," he added.