The event, scheduled for September 10 and 11 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, will gather more than 90 senior officials and business leaders from 18 BRI countries and regions.
Under the theme “Collaborate for Change – Shape a Shared Future,” this edition will build on past successes as a leading platform for policy dialogue and business collaboration.
The summit, jointly organised by the government and Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), will partner with other BRI members to bring representatives of these flagship projects to Hong Kong.
Nicholas Ho said the city will position itself as a one-stop hub, offering project partners access to world-class fundraising, legal, architectural, engineering and technology services to facilitate and structure their initiatives.
“In the past, we heard a lot of participants at the summit, they find out that they want to learn more about specific markets, the markets that they think are the lower hanging fruit that they can get access to the market and also match with the right projects, so in that regard, this market spotlight will feature a few Belt and Road countries,” Ho said.
“Hong Kong, we believe that our governance, our international standards, our professional services are world class, and because of that, we will be hosting a capacity-building session on sustainability and green development for leaders, both government and private sector leaders from Belt and Road countries to join this session.
“In this session, there will be different themes and also sharing. One is smart city development, green standards interoperability, carbon trading and also anti-corruption to fortify Hong Kong’s role as the soft connect function.”
Meanwhile, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau noted that the summit has generated significant collaborative opportunities over the years, with participating members growing more interconnected.
He described the event as a model for how Belt and Road members can work together amid evolving global dynamics to foster shared prosperity.
“Hong Kong is a place where the east meets with the west, and it’s a gateway bringing the enterprises from the mainland using Hong Kong to go overseas and also to bring enterprises from overseas via Hong Kong to the mainland areas, especially the Greater Bay Area with a population of 86 million and a GDP of US$2 trillion,” Yau said.
Adding to the summit’s new features, HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Patrick Lau said that the Project Investment Session will include a new segment themed Middle East & Asean Market Focus, which will showcase high-potential projects from these two fast-growing regions.
