Hong Kong must push for firmer business ties with Asean or ‘wither on the vine’: ex-official

Adviser to city leader and former minister Frederick Ma also says John Lee’s recent Asean trip important in helping city to join RCEP trade pact

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Chief Executive John Lee (right) recently visited Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia to foster ties with the three Asean economies. Photo: Handout

Published: 3:01pm, 11 Aug 2024Updated: 10:12pm, 11 Aug 2024

Hong Kong must push for stronger business ties with Southeast Asian economies to prevent the city from “withering on the vine” amid growing geopolitical tensions, an adviser to the chief executive has said.

Frederick Ma Si-hang, a member of the Chief Executive’s Council of Advisers, said on Sunday that city leader John Lee Ka-chiu’s recent visit to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam had helped with lobbying efforts to allow Hong Kong to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world’s biggest free trade pact.

Lee last month led a delegation, which included business and professional sector representatives, to visit the three countries in his third trip to the Asean bloc following last year’s one to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Ma said that while some economies that made up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were “still in their infancy”, demand for financial services and products in the bloc had risen thanks to an increase in overall income and a growing middle class.

The association comprises the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

“Given the geopolitical issues, if we refuse to change … we may have no choice but to wither on the vine,” the former commerce and economic development minister told a radio interview.