At least one company backed by Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund is expected to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year, Hong Kong Trade Development Council Chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang said on Tuesday.

Kazakhstan’s push to privatize state-owned firms is drawing keen interest in Hong Kong’s capital markets, Ma said while speaking to the press in Astana as part of a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region delegation led by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to the country.

“When they privatize, they want to list in Hong Kong because they have seen the success of our Hong Kong listings. They have also seen that Hong Kong's capital market can help them raise debt,” he added.

Ma said the high-level delegation to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan has significantly deepened ties between the SAR and Central Asia, while strengthening the city’s role as a “super connector.”

Hailing the scale of the visit as unprecedented, he said the delegation of more than 70 people covered over 10 sectors including financial markets, banking, mining, culture and professional services.

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Stressing that Central Asia holds immense potential as a resource-rich market, he said Hong Kong is seeking to establish itself as a gold trading center.

“We are already in talks with them on this. They have abundant resources, and they also want to use our capital market to raise funds, go public, and issue bonds. So the opportunities are limitless,” said Ma.

Noting strong interest from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in technology and innovation, he said: “These countries are very interested in IT and AI. And they have an advantage in this area — they have plenty of land and electricity, which should be useful for these sectors.”

Ma expressed optimism about the road ahead, saying the delegation had successfully “opened the big door”, and that further efforts would focus on widening the channel and opening “more small doors” to enable broader, more concrete cooperation.

“Hong Kong has always played the role of the ‘super connector’ and ‘super value-adder’,” he said. “This trip has fully demonstrated the effectiveness of this role.”