'Asean trip can clarify HK's rule of law'
A veteran arbitrator said a trip by the chief executive to Asean countries will help to clarify any possible misunderstandings about Hong Kong's rule of law and showcase the city's strengths as a leading arbitration hub. Ronald Sum, a lawyer and vice-chairman of the online dispute resolution centre eBRAM, is among some 30 delegates led by John Lee on a visit to Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia this week to bolster trade ties. Sum stressed the need for telling good stories and correcting misconceptions about Hong Kong's legal scene. "It is a fact that there are a lot of reports or comments about whether there is still rule of law in Hong Kong, whether our judiciary is still independent, and whether Hong Kong has become a lawless jurisdiction," he said. "A lot of them stem from people not having experience in Hong Kong but just reading comments from media, social media or articles."  Sum said the trip can show foreign investors that Hong Kong can help them solve disputes here, noting that it ranked the world's third-most popular place for arbitration, after London and Singapore. "We are going to tell them that the statistics of how many [arbitration] cases in Hong Kong and the amount of disputes [settled]. These are statistics and statistics do not lie," he said.  The number of arbitration cases in Hong Kong reached 344 last year, up 24 percent from 2021, according to data from the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre. George Lam, who co-chairs the Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group, is another member of the Hong Kong delegation. He said the trip can achieve mutually beneficial outcomes when it comes to satellite technology. "We have these attractions being a talent hub, and we are getting more people to Hong Kong. So with Southeast Asia, we want to build up these win-win relationships. We can take our innovative solutions and our R&D results to the big markets there," he said. "In the case of Indonesia, it's almost 300 million in population, almost half of the population of Asean region. It requires a lot of innovative products and services, including satellites, including satellite data services, satellite launching services and so on."  Lam expressed confidence that more technology firms from Asean member states will be attracted to Hong Kong thanks to its low tax rate and position as a global talent hub.