Hong Kong’s ability to bring together senior officials, business leaders and investors from around the world for knowledge sharing and dealmaking remains as powerful as ever.
Last week’s Belt and Road Summit, attended by 6,200 participants from more than 70 countries and regions, also witnessed 45 MoU signings – a record for the Summit. These agreements covered multiple sectors, such as aviation, energy, finance, infrastructure and technology.
Hong Kong has hosted the Belt and Road Summit – which is jointly organised by the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) – ever since the annual forum made its debut 10 years ago.
The 45 MoUs signed this year spanned many major economies, including Mainland China, ASEAN and the Middle East within Asia, as well as prominent markets in Australasia, Europe and North America.
These geographically diverse partnerships – nine government-to-government ventures and 36 business-to-business agreements – stemmed from numerous outbound missions and overseas trade promotions organised by the Hong Kong SAR Government and the HKTDC.
They also included various ‘small and beautiful deals’, a trend that has emerged as a key theme of Beijing’s Belt and Road investment philosophy.
One agreement signed at this year’s Summit between Indonesian agritech start-up Chickin and Hong Kong tech firm LINKTA aims to reduce waste and mortality rates in chicken farms, benefiting consumers and famers.
“This joint venture agreement aims to have a better partnership in the food security sector between China and Indonesia,” Chickin’s Co-founder and CEO Tubagus Syailendra said.
Other overseas enterprises also leveraged the Summit to forge international partnerships.
One deal aims to jointly develop ESG and carbon credit trading education in Hong Kong, reinforcing the city’s role as an Asia Pacific hub for carbon expertise.
The four-way deal was signed between Planex, a carbon credit trading platform backed by Australia’s Activation Group, ESCP Business School from Germany, Hong Kong’s Carbon Offset Association and US blockchain specialist Arx Veritas.
Planex aims to build out its reach from Hong Kong to Mainland China as well as the Middle East, explained Co-Founder Colin Lam.
“The reason we chose Hong Kong as a hub for our carbon exchange business is precisely because Hong Kong has consistently functioned as one of the world's top three financial centres for decades,” Mr Lam highlighted.
In addition, New Zealand’s Infinite Water, a water start-up, signed two MoUs with US firms RealTime Purity and DAUM Consulting to collaborate on water treatment technology.
Infinite Water is ready to further expand overseas after going through R&D in recent years, remarked Dr Yum-Keung Ip, Managing Director of Infinite Water New Zealand.
“The two MoUs signed today are just a starting point for us to enter the commercialisation phase, which we expect to be an exponential growth stage.”
This year’s Belt and Road Summit opened up a wealth of possibilities for collaboration across Belt and Road markets and beyond.
In addition to the record number of MoUs, the event featured more than 300 investment projects and hosted over 800 one-to-one project matching meetings, showcasing Hong Kong’s strengths as a superconnector and super value-adder, while reinforcing its role as a deal-making platform for the Belt and Road Initiative.