Over 6,000 people from more than 70 nations and regions converged on the 9th Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong on 11-12 September, a testament to the global reach of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The symposium, which drew over 90 political and business leaders, saw 25 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) signed and over 280 investment projects matched, serving as an extraordinary platform for Hong Kong to shine as a super-connector and value-adder.
Belt and Road: A New Decade
Since its launch in 2016, the annual summit has grown in strength, with the content keeping pace with the times and covering topics from the Digital Silk Road to green finance.
Under the theme “Building a Connected, Innovative and Green Belt and Road,” the 2024 summit unveiled a new Green Chapter featuring sessions on green construction, innovation and finance that explored green businesses with Hong Kong as a facilitator. Hong Kong stands at the forefront of green finance, with over $50 billion in green and sustainable debt issued in 2023. In his opening address, Chief Executive John Lee also highlighted Hong Kong’s latest developments in trade, legal services, innovation and technology, as well as cultivating people-to-people bonds.
A key topic of discussion during the two-day event was “small is beautiful,” i.e., how large development and infrastructure projects in various Belt and Road nations could be sectioned to allow small businesses to tap opportunities and expand globally.
Significantly, the forum also shed light on the booming opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the region’s growing business links with Belt and Road countries. Moreover, the Government is actively working to transform Hong Kong into an international legal and dispute resolution service centre in Asia-Pacific, tackling cross-region economic and trade cooperation issues in the BRI.
These measures neatly dovetail with the reports from the 20th National Congress and the third plenary earlier this year, which emphasized that the GBA and BRI would be the primary focus of developing business opportunities in RCEP markets.
In a world beset by geopolitical tension and conflicts, Hong Kong is well-positioned to leverage its standing as a gateway to ASEAN. Southeast Asia accounts for 13% of Hong Kong’s total foreign trade and is a strong focus for expansion under the BRI. In August, the Chief Executive led a delegation to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, which resulted in 55 MoUs, further strengthening its ties with the region.
By building on its connections with countries in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), bolstered by its bid to join the trade bloc, Hong Kong is crucial to forging two-way investment pathways and economic growth in the region.
Hong Kong’s Critical Role
Hong Kong boasts a raft of advantages under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework. It is one of the freest economies in the world, with the free flow of goods, capital, people and information. It offers a world-class business environment and a simple and low-cost tax system. As an international financial hub and the world’s most extensive offshore RMB business centre, Hong Kong is a leader in cross-border settlement and RMB investment under the BRI.
Last year, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Silk Road Fund agreed to form a Belt and Road investment platform, jointly contributing RMB15 billion in phases. Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation Limited also announced the completion of its first issuance of infrastructure loan-backed securities under its pilot scheme on infrastructure financing securitization, covering 35 projects in 12 Belt and Road countries. Furthermore, the city has signed cultural cooperation agreements with over 10 countries in the BRI, fostering people-to-people and rich exchanges.
Last but not least, education is not just a field of cooperation but a critical one. The Hong Kong Government’s Belt and Road Scholarship and those offered by local universities give approximately 2,500 students the opportunity to pursue higher education in the city. Such initiatives not only provide financial support but also foster academic and cultural exchange, reflecting the immense value of Hong Kong in developing the BRI.
Edmond Yue, Belt and Road Convenor, HKGCC