Forum attendees hope Hong Kong back to peace, stability with bigger role in B&R development
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E-mail Xinhua, September 13, 2019
Attendees at the fourth Belt and Road Summit that ended here Thursday have expressed their hope that Hong Kong returns to peace and stability and plays an even more significant role in the development of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Themed "Hong Kong IN: Creating and Realising Opportunities," the event was extended to two full days this year, and around 5,000 government officials, entrepreneurs and professionals from 69 countries and regions assembled here to explore and discuss collaboration opportunities under the initiative.
During the gathering, policy dialogues, thematic forums, project pitching sessions, and over 700 one-on-one business-matching meetings for more than 240 projects were held.
Stability urged
Recent unrest has severely impacted Hong Kong's economy, and the exhibition industry has not been spared. However, this year's summit struck a strong note with more participants and longer duration than the previous year.
Many attendees voiced their concern about the violence in Hong Kong.
"No one can condone violence," said Will Myles, global director of RICS, a professional body for qualifications and standards. He has lived and worked in Hong Kong for many years, believing that it needs time and dialogues to solve social problems.
Myles said he looks forward to Hong Kong still as an international place of business.
Davood Jalili with the Iranian Chamber of Commerce & Investment in Hong Kong and Macao, has spent 15 years in Hong Kong and he said he believes the majority of Hong Kong residents do not want the place where they live to be in chaos, with the airport occupied and the flow of travelers stopped by protesters.
With support of China's central government and hard efforts made by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government, the SAR will go through these challenging times, Jalili said.
"At first, we worried that the protest may actually affect the summit," Phumzile Sibisi, deputy head of customer & retail services of Ethekwini Municipality, said. "I think the government has done a great job, and hopefully they will be able to address the unrest."
Bigger role
Carrie Lam, chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), said at the opening session that Hong Kong is well positioned to serve as the gateway to the Belt and Road and its manifold prospects and possibilities, with opportunities in capacity building, green finance, professional services and business matching.
Infrastructure is a cornerstone of the Belt and Road Initiative. Its funding needs in Asia will be 1.7 trillion U.S. dollars each year on average through 2030, according to the Asian Development Bank.
"Our deep liquidity, outstanding financial infrastructure and wide-ranging options for raising capital...can meet the financing needs of any Belt and Road project," Paul Chan, financial secretary of the HKSAR government, said.
Chan stressed that Hong Kong arranged and issued 11 billion U.S. dollars worth of green bonds last year, tripling that of 2017.
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