96 deals signed, flights planned: what’s next for Hong Kong and Central Asia?
Observers say real challenge lies ahead as government and business stakeholders follow up to realise gains
Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu has wrapped up his visit to Central Asia after meeting high-level leaders and sealing nearly 100 partnership agreements aimed at opening the “big door” for local and mainland Chinese businesses.
While reviving direct flights to the region was considered a big win from the trip, observers noted that the real challenges lay ahead as authorities and different parties must take necessary follow-up actions to realise the gains.
Local authorities and businesses signed 96 agreements and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with their Central Asian counterparts, sealing 61 in Kazakhstan and 35 in Uzbekistan. The deals covered sectors including finance, innovation, trade and media.
Investment bank China International Capital Corporation emerged as a key player, signing at least six agreements.
That included one with Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna, which aims to leverage Hong Kong’s financial expertise to facilitate the privatisation of the country’s state-owned enterprises and key national industries.
Amid the trend, state-owned national railway company Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ) had already decided to list in Hong Kong, according to Trade Development Council chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang. KTZ is understood to be among the Kazakh companies that will join a roadshow in Hong Kong to draw investors later this month.