HK should tell good Belt and Road stories: official
Undersecretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Bernard Chan, said an inspection trip to China’s interior provinces highlights Hong Kong's role in promoting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Chan is among some 70 delegates – among them business leaders and consuls general in the SAR – on a visit to four cities in Henan and Shaanxi to witness first-hand the achievements of the mega infrastructure project over the past decade. Speaking to RTHK, he said progress has been made during the week-long trip, but that more effort is needed to promote business opportunities under the BRI. “If we can get the help of foreign chambers, consuls general, and through their platforms to elaborate the stories, I think that will be more efficient,” he said.  “Once they go back to Hong Kong, they are going to share this experience with their stakeholders and foreign enterprises. It’s a very good way to tell the good stories of Hong Kong, and tell the good stories of China.” The official cited efforts already under way to promote the nation’s silk road strategy, including a new session in an upcoming Belt and Road Summit –  to be held in Hong Kong in September – to boost trade ties with the Middle East.  “Over the past couple of months, actually a lot of Middle East stakeholders have been coming to Hong Kong and doing some due diligence. All those projects have been progressing very nicely,” he said. “So the Belt and Road Summit’s Middle East thematic session is really a continuation of what we have been doing with the Middle East counterparts.” On the hiring of a new BRI commissioner responsible for offering advice and building connections with overseas partners, Chan said authorities have been talking to candidates of different backgrounds.  “We have been doing a lot of collaboration with different economies, with the Middle East, with Asean, and other economies along the Belt and Road, so probably one of the criteria will be having some knowledge in those economies to help drive the cooperation between Hong Kong and those economies,” he said.  The position has been left vacant for more than six months since former commissioner Rex Chang stepped down to head the SAR government's Beijing office.  Chan said efforts to promote the BRI have not been affected by the vacant post. “We have a really extensive global network,” he said. “With that extensive global network, we have been able to do a lot of external relationship work, including the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative.”