The new Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Kuala Lumpur will deepen the territory’s economic, trade and investment ties with the strategically important Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the special administrative region’s commerce chief said on Tuesday.
In a speech at the official opening ceremony of the new ETO permanent office in the Malaysian capital, Algernon Yau Ying-wah said it will help spearhead building closer government-to-government and business-to-business links, step up the facilitation of two-way trade and investment, and strengthen the Hong Kong SAR’s presence in the region.
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“We will create more opportunities and win-win collaboration in areas of mutual interest, whether in finance and fintech, innovation and technology, professional services, green economy, logistics, or creative industries, just to name a few,” Yau said.
The geographical coverage of the Kuala Lumpur office, the 15th overseas ETO of the Hong Kong SAR government and the fourth in the ASEAN region, includes Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Laos and Pakistan.
“ASEAN has been our second largest trade-in-goods partner since 2010, while Malaysia is our eighth-largest partner,” said Yau.
He thanked the Malaysian government for its support for the establishment of the Kuala Lumpur ETO, which started operation last December.
Other officiating guests at the ceremony included Malaysian Minister of Transport Loke Siew Fook, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing, Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council Frederick Ma Si-hang, Chief of Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia Ambassador Ikram Bin Mohd Ibrahim and Director of the Kuala Lumpur ETO Owin Fung.
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Earlier in the day, the secretary for commerce and economic development led a business delegation to attend the "Think Business, Think Hong Kong" symposium and luncheon organized by the HKTDC.
The business delegates, including representatives from Chinese mainland enterprises looking to go global, and HKSAR chambers of commerce and other organizations, also had exchange sessions with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corp and local chambers to gain a deeper understanding of the latest situation and needs of the Malaysian market.
