Hong Kong – Speech by CE at 10th Belt and Road Summit (English just)

Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the 10th Belt and Road Summit today (September 10):

Honourable Director Zhou Ji (the Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)), Secretary Feng Fei (Secretary of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee), Vice Minister Yan Dong (Vice Minister of Commerce), Vice Chairman Li Zhen (Vice Chairman of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council), Deputy Secretary General Xiao Weiming (Deputy Secretary General of the National Development and Reform Commission), Commissioner Cui Jianchun (Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the HKSAR), Professor Frederick Ma (Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council), authorities and good friends from all over the world, differentiated visitors, girls and gentlemen,

Great early morning. Invite to Hong Kong, and the 10th Belt and Road Summit.

Let me very first extend a warm welcome to– His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol of Cambodia (Deputy Prime Minister and First Vice-Chairman of the Council for the Development of Cambodia), His Excellency Minister Santiphab Phomvihane from Laos (Minister of Finance of Laos), His Excellency Minister Anthony Loke from Malaysia (Minister of Transport of Malaysia), His Excellency Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Sayed from Qatar (Minister of State for Foreign Trade Affairs of Qatar), in addition to lots of senior authorities and prominent leaders from Belt and Road nations here, for this anniversary Summit.

As the Chinese stating goes, “有朋自遠方來，不亦樂乎” — “What a joy to have friends coming from afar”

Lots of pals, I’m pleased to state. This 10th anniversary edition of Hong Kong’s Belt and Road Summit combines more than 6 000 prominent leaders and individuals from federal governments, global organisations, business and the worldwide media, here to commemorate a years of accomplishments. I ‘d state that’s evidence cooperation works. Which this yearly Summit provides.

Considering that 2016, Hong Kong’s Belt and Road Summit has actually joined federal governments, organizations, individuals and cultures in cooperation for modification. For fulfilling chances.

Over the previous 10 years, more than 45 000 individuals from over 120 nations and areas have actually taken part in the Summit. Together, they have actually provided over 2 800 jobs along the Belt and Road, forming a shared vision through cooperation and connection, which are the essential worths of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Maintaining that spirit, this year’s Summit style is “Collaborate for Change – Shape a Shared Future”

To mark this 10th edition, we are presenting a brand-new session on signature Belt and Road tasks. It will be matched by job financial investment sessions on energy, natural deposits, utilities and metropolitan advancement, consisting of Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis, which uses up one-third of Hong Kong’s geographical location and is quick increasing as a development and innovation center.

Later on today, we will witness the exchange of 9 MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) and co-operation contracts, in between Hong Kong and Belt and Road nations, on main co-operation in conflict avoidance and resolution, customizeds, anti-corruption, meteorology, financial investment promo, and more. These highlight our dedication to the Belt and Road, to allowing co-operation and exchanges for shared advantage. Today, some 36 business-to-business contracts and offers will be revealed, covering financing, innovation, logistics, expert services and education.

Thanks to jobs and offers closed in current days, their overall worth is now near 1 billion United States Dollars. Which’s simply the start. The start of another years of company, of financial investment, and of co-operation.

Trade and financial investment

Here in Hong Kong, when we talk service, we imply service. Hong Kong has actually long grown as a complimentary port devoted to multilateralism.

The HKSAR Government is quickly broadening Hong Kong’s worldwide trade networks. We have actually signed open market contracts with 14 Belt and Road nations, and financial investment contracts with about 20 Belt and Road economies, along with Comprehensive Double Taxation Agreements with 37 Belt and Road jurisdictions.

Not remarkably, our external trade with Belt and Road nations went beyond 276 billion United States Dollars in 2015, up about 80 percent because 2013, and 3 times the typical development rate of Hong Kong’s general product trade over the exact same duration. Some 1 400 business from Belt and Road nations have actually developed a base in Hong Kong to take these chances.

It assists that Hong Kong is among the most respected sources of foreign direct financial investment in the Belt and Road. In 2023, our external direct financial investment in Belt and Road nations and areas was 133 billion United States Dollars.

That’s 3.6 times of the quantity in 2013 and 4 times that of Hong Kong’s general outside direct financial investment development, a clear indication that worldwide capital assembles here and releases worldwide.

We invest along with link. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority developed the Belt and Road HK Flagship Impact Fund with the Silk Road Fund Company, and preliminary capital amounting to 1 billion United States Dollars.

In 2015, our Monetary Authority signed a MoU with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund on a joint 1 billion-US Dollar fund. They will buy business with a Hong Kong nexus broadening to Saudi Arabia.

Recently, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan provided a 2 billion Renminbi dim amount bond in Hong Kong, the very first Renminbi bond released by a government-owned entity from Central Asia.

That highlights Hong Kong’s position as a leading fund-raising center for Belt and Road economies. That’s why more than 100 Belt and Road business are noted on the HKEX (Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited), with more to come.

And I think it is necessary to connect to our Belt and Road partners, personally, to let them understand what Hong Kong can do for them– for you– whether in crucial occasions like this one, or in visiting their nations.

Given that presuming workplace 3 years back, I have actually gone to 12 Belt and Road nations. To the majority of them, I have actually led top-level company delegations from Hong Kong, experiencing some 160 MoUs, co-operation arrangements and deliverables with the particular economies– lots of now in advancement.

Simply this May, I led a joint delegation of Mainland and Hong Kong business to check out the marketplaces of Qatar and Kuwait, my 2nd see to the Middle East area.

Along with many arrangements reached throughout the journey, I’m delighted to keep in mind that a person of the individuals has actually selected Hong Kong as its international center and noted on the HKEX simply last month.

I likewise experienced a MoU, less than 2 weeks back, in between Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Investment and our Belt and Road Office, part of its brand-new signature task partnerships, working straight with federal governments.

Significant Belt and Road tasks and occasions are turning to Hong Kong for international roadshows. They consist of the Future Investment Initiative PRIORITY Summit, in 2023, the current Saudi Super Cup, and LEAP– among the Middle East’s biggest tech expositions, which picked Hong Kong for its very first worldwide edition, LEAP East, to be held next year.

To support advancement in the Global South, we continue to broaden our global network of trade workplaces throughout partner nations.

Our Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices, Invest Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council interact to link services and jobs through Hong Kong.

Through these networks, our Government ties now encompass some 130 nations, consisting of about 100 Belt and Road nations.

Competitiveness

To a world of financiers, specifically our pals from Belt and Road economies, Hong Kong uses a distinct mix of professionalism and effectiveness.

Hong Kong has long shone as a resourceful and durable economy, among the world’s most competitive in the numerous sectors and markets we devote to.

That was when again substantiated simply 3 months back, when the International Institute for Management Development put out its 2025 World Competitiveness Yearbook. Hong Kong positioned 3rd, internationally, up 2 locations from in 2015.

In “government efficiency” and “business efficiency”Hong Kong increased to 2nd general. And we topped the rankings in “tax policy” and “business legislation”

Competitiveness remains in Hong Kong’s DNA. And main to that competitiveness, is our individuals, and our capability in supporting them.

Skill

In the IMD (International Institute for Management Development)’s yearly World Talent Ranking, which came out simply the other day, Hong Kong increased to 4th, internationally, up from ninth location in 2015 and 16th location the year before. Going up 12 locations in 2 years, we have actually pertained to our highest-ever standing in the report, ranking top in Asia.

In General, Hong Kong topped the ranking in the portion of “graduates in sciences”and positioned amongst the worldwide leading 5 in the schedule of “finance skills”the “remuneration of management”and the efficiency of “management education”

Hong Kong’s efficiency, the IMD report stated, shows that “targeted reforms and investment can result in significant gains in talent competitiveness over time”keeping in mind that Hong Kong draws in great deals of incoming trainees from abroad, through our exceptional scholastic accomplishment. Hong Kong is home to 5 of the world’s leading 100 universities, which cultivate multi-talented and resourceful young individuals for our vibrant city.

And Hong Kong is devoted to supporting future generations from home and abroad. With the HKSAR Government’s Belt and Road Scholarship and other programs, more than 4 000 trainees from Belt and Road nations are registered in our tertiary programs every year.

This summer season, some 400 trainees from Belt and Road nations were put in summertime internships here, enhancing our shared Belt and Road skill swimming pool.

Our targeted reforms on skill cover not just grooming our own, however likewise drawing in a world of specialists to our world city. Considering that completion of 2022, our improved skill admission plans have actually gotten more than 520 000 applications, with over 350 000 authorized. More than 230 000 have actually shown up in Hong Kong over the duration, improving our skill swimming pool and financial development.

Connection

And naturally, Hong Kong likewise opens its doors broad to tourists who concern our city for service, leisure and more. In 2015, Hong Kong invited more than 44 million visitors, 4th internationally for visitor arrivals by city, winning the world’s finest airport migration service award. Our worldwide airport is the world’s busiest air freight center, managing 4.9 million tonnes of items and about 45 percent of Hong Kong’s external trade last year.

With the three-runway system now in operation, we anticipate approximately 120 million travelers and 10 million tonnes of freight every year in about 10 years’ time, with the improved capability to support social and financial development throughout Belt and Road nations.

We have actually signed 80 bilateral civil air travel arrangements and run flights to some 60 Belt and Road locations, reinforcing our function along the Air Silk Road.

Green and sustainable development

Hong Kong is devoted to development. We are likewise devoted to sustainability, to guaranteeing a healthy advancement for all. As a green and sustainable development and financing center, Hong Kong is dealing with Belt and Road partners to construct a Green and Innovative Silk Road.

We offer globally acknowledged green structure accreditation, with the versatility to assist nations adjust requirements and gain access to green financing. And, for 7 successive years, Hong Kong has actually ranked initially in Asia in the volume of green and sustainable bonds organized.

Systems

Hong Kong’s success as a premier practical platform for the Belt and Road rests on our special “one country, two systems” structure.

It enables Hong Kong to keep a typical law jurisdiction with an advanced legal sector, and a judiciary that exercises its powers individually, offering the safeguards that financiers and tasks need.

In May, federal government agents of over 30 states, a number of them from the Belt and Road, collected in Hong Kong to sign the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organization for Mediation.

The Organization will be headquartered here, in Hong Kong, as the world’s very first intergovernmental legal body committed to solving global conflicts through mediation.

The “one country, two systems” concept guarantees that Hong Kong prospers as an east-meets-west centre for worldwide cultural exchange. With programs like the Asia+ Festival, which starts next week, we provide myriad occasions showcasing the richness of Asia and Belt and Road areas.

And the Hong Kong Palace Museum, which houses treasures from Beijing’s Forbidden City, is now hosting work of arts from Qatar’s Museum of Islamic Art, Doha. In 2 months’ time, it will likewise display remarkable collections from 7 popular museums in Egypt. That’s simply a taste of the cultural exchange, the imaginative discussion, that Hong Kong provides!

The Ideal Belt and Road Hub

Yes, girls and gentlemen, Hong Kong is the perfect Belt and Road center. As the only world city that assembles both the China benefit and the international benefit, Hong Kong stands as the premier entrance for co-operation, bridging individuals, trade, service, education, culture and worths throughout the area, linking Asia and the world. We are a “super connector” and “super value-adder” for top quality cooperations worldwide.

Our “dual superpower” of linking and value-adding methods Hong Kong is more than a link in between capital and tasks. We likewise inject vigour, development and sustainability, including tactical worth to whatever we do.

Hong Kong will continue to drive premium advancement along the Belt and Road. That’s our pledge towards a brighter future. Together with you.

My thanks to our Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the Belt and Road Office and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council for making this Summit such a flagship worldwide occasion over the previous years. And, I’m positive, for numerous years to come.

Ladies and gentlemen, I want you all a fulfilling Summit, and a remarkable remain in Hong Kong.

Thank you.