More emerging BRI economies to benefit HK

The Commissioner for Belt and Road Nicholas Ho on Saturday said he expects more businesses from emerging economies to use Hong Kong as a hub for Beijing's flagship trade initiative. Speaking on an RTHK programme, he described Belt and Road as a policy which had mutual benefits and wasn't one-sided. He said the SAR's merchandise trade figures with participating countries was growing at over seven percent per year, and that the number of corporates coming to the city was rising by over 15 percent each year. "Over the past ten years, our partners have mainly been from the Southeast Asia region or Asean countries. But we now see more emerging market partners from Belt and Road countries, for example, in the Middle East and North Africa. Their interest in Hong Kong is increasing," he said. "They come to hold events, conferences, do business and to find contacts. Our partners have always been changing over the past ten years. In future, we believe that there will be more emerging market partners from other regions, who are interested in Hong Kong as a hub for the Belt and Road Initiative." But Ho said that with about 150 countries participating in the initiative, Hong Kong had to be focused when exploring opportunities, in order to see achievements in the medium term. "Our main focus will be on Asean countries and Middle Eastern countries. For instance, in Asean, we may focus on Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam; and for the Middle East, we may focus on the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and also some emerging market states," he said. Ho added that Hong Kong had advantages in green finance and green technology, and that he believed these would be very attractive going forward.