'HK can help BRI countries in green development'
The Commissioner for Belt and Road Nicholas Ho said Hong Kong can work with mainland cities on green development to help countries under the initiative achieve carbon neutrality. Ho is part of Chief Executive John Lee's 70-member delegation which will participate in the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing this week. The forum marks the tenth anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, and Ho said it is currently the "harvest period". "In the past 10 years, we saw incredible mega projects being invested and constructed, and now they are being operated... It helps draw and unlock regional hidden potential to help create a lot more commercially viable business opportunities that were not available before," he told RTHK. Ho said he expects more cooperation with mainland cities in terms of green development, as many Belt and Road countries are aiming to achieve carbon neutrality. "Hong Kong can better participate and better position ourselves to capture opportunities in green development, in digital economy, and also in innovation, given Hong Kong's mature green finance ecosystem and our international service platform," he said. The commissioner said Hong Kong has an important role in the forum, and the city should grasp the opportunity to generate more collaboration. "We have that expertise not only just to attract Belt and Road projects to come to Hong Kong, but also use Hong Kong as a base to get into the GBA market as part of the dual circulation strategy," he said. The two-day forum will be held in the capital on October 17-18.