Belt and Road Initiative Strengthens PH-Hong Kong Investment Ties
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), in association with the Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce, has just concluded earlier, a 3-day high-level Hong Kong–Shanghai joint investment mission to the Philippines.
Exploring Philippine Investment Opportunities
Held at Shangri-La The Fort Hotel in Taguig City, the forum was entitled “Hong Kong and Shanghai: Your Investment Partners“. The organizers aim to further explore cooperation, collaborations, and investment opportunities between China and the Philippines.
The delegation consisted of 32 Hong Kong and 10 Shanghai business leaders and services providers. The group consists of representatives from a wide range of industries including consultancy, architecture, energy, waste and water treatment, engineering and construction, legal and accounting, transportation and other sectors.
During the 3-day Manila visit, the delegation met with local government officials, agencies and business leaders including Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Cayetano.
Moreover, the delegates also participated in project briefings and attended the “Hong Kong and Shanghai: Your Investment Partners” luncheon organised by the HKTDC earlier today.
Belt and Road: Hong Kong and Shanghai as Facilitators
Driven by the growing intra-regional cooperation in Asia, the Belt and Road Initiative was highlighted to promote connectivity and economic cooperation among countries along the Belt and Road routes to further market integration in the region including the Philippines.
At the luncheon, Hong Kong‘s unique advantages as a facilitator for infrastructure development and doing business with the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world were promoted. These advantages include the city’s international network, rich talent pool, sound financial system, fair legal structure and efficient infrastructure.
“Our economic, trade and cultural ties are closer than ever with the growing outreach and exchange, such as our mission. Offering a combination of capital, professional expertise and production capability from Hong Kong and Shanghai, we hope to collaborate with partners in the Philippines to turn investment opportunities into bankable ventures,” shares HKTDC Chairman Vincent HS Lo, referring to the Belt and Road Initiative in bringing real opportunities and benefits to the Philippines and around the region.
Build, Build, Build!
The summit came in time as Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte just came from China early April bringing home around US$9 billion worth of investment portfolio.
Under his “Build, Build, Build” initiative, the Philippine president has made infrastructure development a top socio-economic development priority. Topping the list of mega infrastructure projects amount to US$160 billion . Infrastructure spending is ambitiously targeted to expand to 7% by 2019. Infrastructure investment is expected to be a major economic driver over the next few years. The Belt and Road Initiative can provide the much-needed infrastructure financing to partner countries.
More Economic and Trade Links
The Philippines was the 19th largest export market for Hong Kong in 2017. In turn, their total exports to the Philippines rose 12 per cent year-on-year to US$3.6 billion.
Over the same period, Hong Kong imports from the Philippines increased by 27.6% year-on-year to US$9.8 billion. Major import items were semi-conductors, electronic valves and tubes (US$6.8 billion, 69.7%), computers (US$604 million, 6.2%), and telecom equipment and parts (US$458 million, 4.7%).
Co-Mission Leader Dr Jonathan Choi, Chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of Sunwah Group aptly summarized the mission of the summit in a statement at the luncheon through the following;
“The delegation is impressed by the prospects of upcoming projects in the country. Apart from capital needs, we also see high demand for total solutions for infrastructure development. In our delegation there are representatives of a wide range of services providers, from architectural and engineering, construction, information technology, project management and operation to legal and risk managements. They are ready to contribute their expertise to the planned development projects.”
