The accountancy profession will have a powerful role to play, functioning as a "super connector" to help development of the Belt and Road Initiative and global trade in the short and long term, according to an industrial insider.

"Technology brings challenges as well as opportunities for the countries and regions related to the BRI, a route that is dependent on physical, digital and technological connections," said Helen Brand, chief executive of the Association of Certified Chartered Accountants.

With the BRI firmly established, ACCA — a global professional accountancy body — and other international players have recently hosted their third BRI forum, this year titled "Technology Development and the Accounting Profession".

The event was held as part of ACCA's Power of Connections project, which aims to showcase how the global profession can assist connectivity, helping economies to grow and thrive.

"Technologies are already having a lasting impact on the accountancy profession," Brand said.

Professional accountants will play an important role in developing necessary business and finance connections needed across the BRI route, according to Brand.

"They bring the necessary language of business – accounting – to this massive initiative," she said.

ACCA understands the importance of the BRI to China, the global economy and the profession, Brand added.

"We have been working on research and insights to inform the opportunities driven by the implementation of the BRI and promoted this across the work," she said.

Speaking on the role professional accountants and organizations play in the Belt and Road Initiative, Brand said ACCA had been mobilizing its global network of members and partners in order to support the initiative and ensure everyone benefits from the opportunities that the BRI undoubtedly creates.

"We believe the accountancy profession has a significant role to play in the success of the BRI. We believe in global trade, connecting people and business through the knowledge, skills and value the profession holds," Brand said.