Chamber Chairman Betty Yuen, accompanied by General Committee members, joined Chief Executive John Lee’s high-level delegation to Beijing for the third Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation on 17-18 October.
At the opening ceremony, President Xi Jinping unveiled an eight-point strategy for the next phase of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to promote more free-trade agreements and people-to-people collaborations.
In his speech at the plenary meeting, the Chief Executive said Hong Kong’s direct investment in Belt & Road countries up to 2021 had increased by 70% from US$70 billion to US$120 billion, featuring an average annual growth of nearly 15%. He added that the HKSAR Government would continue to proactively integrate into the overall development of the country and live out the Silk Road's spirit of “win-win cooperation” by working hand in hand with Belt & Road countries and enterprises to pursue development.
Yuen said Hong Kong had a lot to offer with regard to the BRI, especially professional services, whether in architecture or engineering. She added that the city was home to many professional architects whose designs were being adopted in many parts of the world, with very impressive buildings or other infrastructure developments. Going forward, she said the city could pursue more collaboration in areas such as the green economy and digital economy.
HKGCC’s LegCo Representative Jeffrey Lam said he looked forward to seeing the win-win outcomes brought by the eight measures, including the scrapping of all restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector, and the setting up of pilot zones for Silk Road e-commerce cooperation.
Representatives from 140 countries and 30 global organisations attended the Belt & Road Forum, which marked the 10th anniversary of the BRI.