Hong Kong courts Asean countries with Belt and Road advantages

Chief Executive Carrie Lam says city plays unique role in Beijing’s development plan thanks to preferential treatment from mainland China

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Chief Executive Carrie Lam at he Hong Kong Summit 2017. Photo: Handout

Published: 3:45pm, 12 Jul 2017Updated: 4:03pm, 12 Jul 2017

The preferential treatment Hong Kong enjoyed from the mainland would enable the city to play a key role as countries in Southeast Asia took advantage of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, Beijing’s international trade development strategy, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said on Tuesday.

The city’s top official signalled Asean’s importance to Hong Kong by arranging for her first overseas visit to take her to the region. The Post earlier reported that Lam’s first foreign trip will be to Singapore.

Singapore Senior Minister of State Koh Poh Koon said the Lion City and Hong Kong could “complement each other as the springboard and the gateway” to the huge markets of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and cooperate as locations for start-ups to grow their businesses.

“Singapore is a keen supporter of the Belt and Road Initiative,” Koh said.

Both officials were speaking at the Hong Kong Summit 2017, organised by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, with cooperation with East Asia as the main theme.

Lam said the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa) between Hong Kong and China provided preferential market access to Hong Kong service suppliers and tariff-free treatment for products of Hong Kong origin, which had given the city a “unique role under the Belt and Road Initiative”. International businesses established in the city could enjoy this preferential treatment, she added.