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Hong Kong has a prominent role to play in the Belt and Road Initiative
2016-12-02
South China Morning Post's Special Report for China Conference
(Contributed by Maritime Silk Road Society)
“One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) is a far-sighted long-term project bringing together the past, present and future and incorporates the Silk Road Economic Belt in the north and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in the south. It reaches out to over 60 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa and is an inclusive initiative encompassing infrastructure and economic development, trade and talent development. As the “Belt and Road” countries become more closely integrated, they will form a community based on shared interests, destiny and responsibility. The successful implementation of this initiative provides a powerful impetus for the continuous development of China as a modern nation and Asia as a whole.
Hong Kong has all along been an entrepôt on the Maritime Silk Road. It will have a more prominent, indeed unique, role to play under the OBOR initiative[1] with a grand vision for deeper and broader global integration. Quite apart from being a well-developed international city, Hong Kong enjoys unique advantages over other coastal cities in the mainland for being a Special Administrative Region that practices the common law in an open economy. Hong Kong’s contributions to the implementation of the OBOR initiative would be manifested in areas such as enterprise and corporate financing, facilitating the internationalisation of the Renminbi, acting as a platform for outward investment and expansion of mainland enterprises, and providing the “soft power”, talents and professional services needed to accomplish these objectives.
With its emphasis on “facility connectivity”, infrastructure is likely to be the first sector to benefit from the OBOR initiative. As an international financial centre, Hong Kong has great potential as a platform to finance international infrastructure projects and their associated support services. When Hong Kong becomes a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (“AIIB”), it will exhibit its “super-connector” role to strengthen ties between China and the ASEAN countries, forging and expanding the AIIB’s activities with Hong Kong as a financing hub and a centre for global offshore Renminbi business.
Infrastructure development generates demand for logistics. The construction of roads, railroads, ports in the Belt and Road countries will generate plenty of new opportunities for the logistics sector. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a case in point. This mega project focuses on the development of the Gwadar Port, energy projects, transportation infrastructure and industrial parks. It is envisaged that the project will result in the creation of 700,000 direct jobs. The economic implications of projects like this are enormous. Hong Kong is an international shipping and logistics centre with a wealth of talents and expertise in these areas. The OBOR countries should look no other than Hong Kong to tab into resources for infrastructure and logistics development.
As a hub for the provision of financial, shipping, logistics and infrastructural development services, Hong Kong has a strong pool of energetic, skilled and multilingual professionals in different sectors, such as information technology, accounting and legal services. For example, as of 2014, there were around 83,000 ICT professionals engaged in various business sectors, around 38% of them were involved in software design and development. We also have 7,000 barristers and solicitors, and over 40,000 accountants working in Hong Kong, providing professional services to businesses.
As the OBOR initiative gets underway, China would be able to exert stronger influence in the international system. It has already begun creating some international mechanisms. For instance, the BRICS Development Bank is based in Shanghai and the headquarters of the AIIB is in Beijing. Is there any other role for Hong Kong to play? We can foresee China setting up more international mechanisms under its leadership. As an international city, Hong Kong already has an edge in language, the rule of law, and talents. Under the “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement, Hong Kong possesses systemic flexibility. Mainland enterprises seeking to expand their business under the B&R Initiative would have to come to Hong Kong for professional services in the common law ecosystem. Hong Kong should make good use of its own advantages and the nation’s development to strive for opportunities that would allow international mechanisms created and led by China to be headquartered in Hong Kong.
The Maritime Silk Society (MSRS) was established on 7 September 2015 to support the OBOR initiative and identify new developmental opportunities for Hong Kong, leveraging Hong Kong’s unique position and strengths. The MSRS was successfully launched with the support of organizations representing the provinces and cites along the 21st Century Maritimes Silk Road as well as those representing the overseas Chinese communities in Hong Kong.
Awareness and understanding of the OBOR initiative in Hong Kong, especially among the younger generation, are not high. Against this background, MSRS has, since its inauguration, organized more than 10 activities covering history, culture, international relations, economic and trade, etc. to promote the OBOR initiative.
In order to enable Hong Kong’s younger generation to meet the challenges offered by the OBOR initiative, the Youth Opportunities Committee of MSRS launched a summer internship programme called “Operation Zhang Qian” for full-time undergraduates in Hong Kong. In summer 2016, 85 students have successfully completed internships of four to eight weeks in OBOR countries (including mainland China, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore, Djibouti (Africa) etc.) as well as in Canada and the Czech Republic. Hong Kong needs to continue to prepare its youth for the opportunities offered by the OBOR initiative.
Hong Kong’s economic development has reached a turning point. We must build on our existing strengths while seeking greater growth for the benefit of our future generations. The OBOR initiative provides a timely opportunity for Hong Kong to find new directions.
[1] The OBOR initiative is officially referred to as The Belt and Road Initiative.
The Hon. Regina Ip, Co-chair of Maritime Silk Road Society, with 85 Hong Kong undergraduates who have completed summer internships in various Belt and Road countries.
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