Hong Kong has ASEAN backing to join RCEP trade pact : John Lee
Nikkei Asia - 06 August 2024
Hong Kong has ASEAN backing to join RCEP trade pact : John Lee
Southeast Asian countries support Hong Kong’s bid for "early accession" to the Pacific mega-trade deal they lead with China, the city’s Chief Executive John Lee said.
Finishing a tour of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos late on Friday, Lee told reporters that the three countries support Hong Kong’s membership in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Asia’s biggest trade pact that includes 15 nations. He also used the trip which concluded in Ho Chi Minh City to stump for Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), discuss expanding visas and trade offices in the region, and push new sectors like fintech.
"We have again received a clear indication of support from the three governments for Hong Kong to join RCEP early," Lee said. He added in Chinese, "I am grateful for their support and feel very encouraged ... We learned that RCEP is currently discussing the procedures for joining."
Though Beijing is increasing its governance of Hong Kong, the island retains some autonomy including in trade policy.
Lee is the city’s first leader to visit these members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Hong Kong has gone on a charm offensive abroad after its image was dented by COVID shutdowns and a 2020 security law imposed by Beijing in the wake of pro-democracy protests.
Lee’s strategy in "telling Hong Kong’s positive side" left little to chance. At the press briefing he read mostly from a script, and took only a handful of pre-screened questions from journalists about the city’s "advantages" and "improved" foreign relations.
One reporter asked if the trip would encourage ASEAN companies to go public in Hong Kong, something Lee said it welcomes as a financial hub. Its delistings have outnumbered listings this year as Hong Kong’s economy becomes increasingly entwined with that of mainland China, which faces low demand, a property crisis and high youth unemployment.
Still Hong Kong’s decades in global finance may offer some lessons to neighbors.
"We are very willing to share our experiences, to assist in capacity building and also to help each other in developing good regulations and laws, talents and technological skill in regard to financial matters," Lee said, adding : "Fintech, for example, is an area that I think all of us must do well in order to ensure our competitiveness."
Hong Kong has remained a center for financing especially as supply chains move from China to Vietnam. It was Vietnam’s second-biggest foreign investor after Singapore in the first six months of 2024, registering $1.18 billion in new capital, Vietnam’s office of statistics said.
"Hong Kong, being the super connector in the region and the gateway to China, stands ready to facilitate Vietnam to the world as its many maturing companies go global and in particular to reach the super economy in China," Winnie Lam, general secretary of the Hong Kong Business Association Vietnam, told Nikkei Asia.
She noted increased Chinese and other multinational investments flowing through their Hong Kong operations to Vietnam as they expand regionally in ASEAN.
In reply to another journalist, Lee said there are already three Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in Southeast Asia and he is mulling where to open more. Travel is rising with fewer restrictions. Hong Kong began offering multi-entry, rather than single-entry, two-year visas to Vietnamese last year, he said.
On the six-day swing through Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, he visited several projects linked to the BRI, Beijing’s program to build and finance infrastructure around the world. His delegation included at least two public officials tasked with promoting the initiative.
"Hong Kong can provide a rich pool of professional expertise in investment and financing, talent management, operation and network in supporting the developments in the Belt and Road regions," Lee said.
