Hong Kong holds summit on Belt and Road Initiative

HONG KONG - Around 5,000 people from across the globe attended the fourth Belt and Road Summit that opened here Wednesday to explore new opportunities over the Belt and Road Initiative.

Co-organized by China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the two-day meeting gathered more than 80 government officials and business leaders from China and other countries along the the Belt and Road to share the latest developments related to the initiative.

Carrie Lam, chief executive of China's Hong Kong SAR, delivered a speech at the summit, saying the Belt and Road was designed to be an open, inclusive and all-embracing global initiative, which extends beyond geographical and cultural borders and boundaries, and Hong Kong is perfectly positioned to serve as the gateway to the Belt and Road.

The connectivity and co-operation promoted by the Belt and Road Initiative has become increasingly prominent in today's complex social and business environment, and Hong Kong will play a significant role in complementing this strategic direction, Lam said, adding that she is confident that Hong Kong can create opportunities in capacity building, green finance, professional services and business matching.

Xie Feng, Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the Hong Kong SAR, said that the Belt and Road Initiative has injected fresh impetus into global growth, and effectively boosted complementarity between national strategies, advanced industrial cooperation, and removed bottlenecks impeding development such as the lack of infrastructure.

"The Belt and Road Initiative has opened up a new pathway toward economic globalization," Xie said, focusing on development, a key issue in globalization, the initiative has prioritized connectivity, and vigorously promoted trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.

"It has helped to make participating countries more competitive and better integrated into the global value chains, thus opening up a new pathway toward globalization that is open, inclusive, balanced, sustainable and beneficial to all," he added.

Gao Yunlong, chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, said that Hong Kong, leveraging on the motherland and facing the world, is the most important international financial, aviation and transportation, and trading center, and a popular arbitration center. It can fully utilize its advantage to provide different corporations with services and talent in areas such as trade, investment and law.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong can intensify its cooperation with the Chinese mainland and complement each others' strengths in the Belt and Road Initiative, Gao added.

Peter Lam, chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, said that new opportunities are opening up as the initiative goes beyond infrastructure to cover finance, technology, manufacturing, logistics, trading and many other sectors.

"As the commercial hub for the Belt and Road, Hong Kong is the ideal venue for an exchange of ideas and insights, and the best place to turn Belt and Road concepts into viable commercial ventures," he said.