Carrie Lam’s policies may be boon for Hong Kong-Australia trade links, envoy to city says
Australian Consul General Michaela Browning says agenda set by the city’s leader includes the new economy, smart cities, and urban development, which the country is interested in
Australia’s trade and business links with Hong Kong could see an expansion, the country’s new top diplomat in the city said, pointing to the policies Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was set to launch.
Australian Consul General Michaela Browning said in an exclusive interview with the Post that it was Lam who helped to initiate the first ever free trade agreement between the two sides – which is still under negotiation – during her visit to Australia in 2015.
Browning, who took office three months ago, has already met Lam. “She has set a very ambitious agenda on things like the new economy, smart cities, and urban development – these are things that Australia has a lot of interest in supporting and getting engaged,” she said, referring to the Hong Kong leader.
Browning also spoke with Lam and other ministers about the mainland’s “go global” strategy, otherwise known as the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Greater Bay Area development that aims to deepen integration between Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong.
The diplomat said Australia’s decades-long strength in building and financing infrastructure could play a role in the Belt and Road Initiative, with Hong Kong as a “springboard”.
“We have a lot of expertise in private-public partnerships and many interesting ways of financing,” she said.
