Three recent outreach activities organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) promoted Hong Kong’s role as a facilitator and commercial hub for the Belt and Road to key markets including the Chinese mainland, ASEAN, Central Asia and Central Europe.
Mainland-Hong Kong Joint Investment and Partnership Mission to Kazakhstan, Georgia and Austria, 17-26 September 2018
In September 2018, the HKTDC and the Ministry of Commerce of People’s Republic of China (MOFCOM) jointly organised a mission to Kazakhstan, Georgia and Austria to explore business and investment collaboration opportunities in these three key markets along the Silk Road Economic Belt.
The delegation, comprising some 60 investors and services professionals from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, networked with local government agencies and project owners, learned about investment and business opportunities in the three countries, and visited infrastructure and smart city projects such as the Chinese-Kazakh joint venture Asia Steel Pipe Corporation, the Park of Innovative Technologies and DAMU Logistic Centre in Almaty, a large-scale residential and business development by China’s Hualing Corporation in Tbilisi, and the Aspern Seestadt smart city development and TU Wien Plus-Energie-Bürohochhaus, one of the world’s first plus-energy high-rise office buildings, in Vienna.
During the mission, the HKTDC signed a Belt and Road Strategic Partnership Agreement with the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (Almaty) and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Enterprise Georgia, Georgia’s trade and investment promotion agency, to strengthen information exchange on Belt and Road development and other trade and investment projects, as well as to facilitate participation in the events and missions to be organised by the three parties.
The mission is the first Mainland-Hong Kong joint delegation organised by the HKTDC to Kazakhstan, and the first HKTDC mission to visit Austria and Georgia, which recently signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Hong Kong at the third Belt and Road Summit held in Hong Kong in June 2018.
Hong Kong Mission Leader and HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Raymond Yip said: “Through this joint investment and partnership mission, we hope companies from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong will get a more comprehensive understanding about the investment needs and tremendous opportunities available in the Central Asian and Central European markets. It is our hope to bring potential investment from the mainland to Kazakhstan, Georgia and Austria, especially into its infrastructure development under the Belt and Road Initiative, with potential deals to be facilitated by Hong Kong services providers.”
Belt and Road Business Mission to Shenzhen, 31 May 2018
This May, the HKTDC, the Economic, Trade and Information Commission of Shenzhen Municipality and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government jointly organised a Hong Kong business mission to Shenzhen, one of Hong Kong’s key partners in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area development and in exploring Belt and Road opportunities.
The Hong Kong delegation, comprising some 30 business leaders representing various sectors including finance and investment, logistics, infrastructure and real estate, information technology, manufacturing and professional services, with Shenzhen government officials, met visited local projects and enterprises, and attended a Shenzhen-Hong Kong roundtable to discuss collaboration opportunities in smart city development, infrastructure investment, e-commerce and other fields under the Belt and Road Initiative.
The mission promoted Hong Kong’s advantages as a one-stop platform for mainland companies’ outbound investment, and helped Hong Kong businesses keep abreast of the mainland’s market potential and connected them to potential partners from Shenzhen.
Mission Leader Jonathan KS Choi, Deputy Chairman of the HKTDC Belt and Road Committee, said: “Shenzhen and Hong Kong are key cities in both the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area development plan. Strengthening cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong will allow both cities to play a more catalytic and leading role in driving forward the development of both initiatives.”
Hong Kong-Shanghai Mission to the Philippines and Indonesia, 23-26 April 2018
The HKTDC and the Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce co-organised a Hong Kong-Shanghai joint infrastructure investment mission to Manila, the Philippines and Jakarta, Indonesia in April 2018 to discuss cooperation and investment opportunities driven by growing intra-regional cooperation in Asia under the Belt and Road Initiative.
The delegation comprised some 40 investors and services professionals from Hong Kong and Shanghai with interest and expertise in finance, consultancy, architecture, energy, waste and water treatment, engineering and construction, legal and accounting, transportation as well as other sectors.
During the four-day programme of meetings, visits and networking sessions, the delegation met with government departments including the Philippine National Economic and Development Authority, the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry, the Philippines Economic Zone Authority, the Indonesian Ministry of National Development Planning Board and the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation, and learned about collaboration opportunities from local business leaders and project owners.
Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Carrie Lam delivered a keynote speech at the “Indonesia-Hong Kong Strategic Partnership on the Belt and Road Initiative” seminar and luncheon, where a MoU was signed between the HKTDC and the Indonesia Investment Coordination Board (BKPM) to further promote investment cooperation between Indonesia and Hong Kong.
HKTDC Chairman Vincent HS Lo said: “Indonesia, being the biggest economy in Southeast Asia and a founding member of the ASEAN community, plays a very important role in shaping the Belt and Road. I am pleased that the long-time trust we have shared with Indonesia will give us a head start to work together. The Philippines is one of the fastest growing economies in ASEAN and has a young workforce. Offering a combination of capital, professional expertise and production capability from Hong Kong and Shanghai, we hope to collaborate with partners in these two countries to turn investment opportunities into viable ventures.”
