Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) (HKETO), Ms Emily Mo, spoke at the "Opportunities in Infrastructure and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) Sector in Asia for Canadian Companies" webinar hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) in Canada and other organisations on May 27. The webinar discusses opportunities for Canadian companies in the infrastructure and PPP sectors in Asia under the new normal.
In delivering opening remarks at the webinar, Ms Mo updated participants on the latest epidemic situation of Hong Kong and that the city is coming to the end of the fourth wave. "The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s multi-pronged strategy has worked to minimise imported cases, and its redoubled testing and contact tracing efforts have helped suppress the spread of the virus," Ms Mo said.
On the business side, Ms Mo pointed out that the "Five Connectivities" under the Belt and Road Initiative, namely policy, infrastructure, trade, finance and people, offered mutual beneficial interaction for Canadian companies in the infrastructure and PPP sectors. "To date, China has signed more than 200 co-operation agreements with some 140 countries and 31 international organisations under the Belt and Road Initiative. Last year, despite the pandemic, the contract value of newly signed overseas engineering projects came in about US$255 billion. China's non-financial outward foreign direct investment in 58 Belt and Road economies rose 18 %, year on year, to nearly US$18 billion," Ms Mo continued.
Ms Mo moved on to highlight Hong Kong’s active participation in the Belt and Road Initiative and the enormous business opportunities brought about by the Initiative. Under the "One Country, Two Systems" framework and the 14th Five-Year Plan approved by the National People's Congress in March, Hong Kong continued to benefit from the deepened economic integration with the Mainland of China.
Besides, for forward-looking companies that are considering expanding to China or Asia, the various favourable trading conditions offered under the free trade agreements signed between Hong Kong and the Mainland of China and between Hong Kong and ASEAN make the city well-positioned to partner with Canadian companies to venture into Asia.
Before closing, Ms Mo encouraged Canadian businesses to make use of the Hong Kong platform to seize opportunities in the infrastructure and PPP sectors in Asia and beyond.
Co-chaired by Gowling WLG Partner Mr Thomas Timmins and the Canadian Council for PPP President and CEO Mr Mark Romoff, the webinar was joined by other speakers including Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (Investment) Director General Mr Rajat Misra, Institution of PPP Hong Kong Vice Chairman Ir Billy Tam, International Business Committee Chair Intelligent of Transportation Systems Society of Canada Mr Joseph Lam, HKTDC Director for Canada Mr Andrew Yui and C4P Inc President Mr Joseph Chaung.
香港經貿處處長出席網上研討會探討基建及公私營合作的商機
香港駐多倫多經濟貿易辦事處（香港經貿處）處長巫菀菁於五月二十七日出席由香港貿易發展局加拿大辦事處及其他機構舉辦的「加拿大企業在亞洲參與基建及公私營合作的商機」 網上研討會並致辭。該研討會旨在探討加拿大企業在新常態下，參與亞洲基建及公私營合作計劃的商機。
巫菀菁在研討會上致辭，向與會者簡述香港的最新疫情，並表示香港已處於第四波疫情的尾聲。巫菀菁說：「香港特別行政區政府採取多管齊下的策略大大減低了輸入個案，而雙重檢疫及個案追蹤的措施亦有效地控制病毒擴散。」
在商貿方面，巫菀菁指出「一帶一路」倡議的「五通」— 即「政策溝通、設施聯通、貿易暢通、資金融通及民心相通」，為加拿大企業在基建及公私營合作方面提供了互惠互利的好處。巫菀菁續說：「到目前為止，中國在『一帶一路』倡議下已經與約140個國家及31個國際組織簽訂逾200個合作協議。去年，雖然受疫情影響，新簽署的海外工程合約總額仍達2,550億美元。中國在58個『一帶一路』經濟體的非金融類對外直接投資按年增長18%至接近180億美元。」
巫菀菁又指出香港積極參與「一帶一路」倡議及有關倡議所帶來的龐大商機。在「一國兩制」的框架及三月份全國人大通過的《十四五規劃綱要》下，香港會繼續受惠於與中國內地日趨頻繁的經濟合作。
此外，對於考慮拓展業務至中國或亞洲的公司而言，香港與中國內地以及香港與東南亞國家聯盟簽署的自由貿易協定所提供的各項有利貿易條件，將成為香港夥伴加拿大公司進軍亞洲的優勢。
最後，巫菀菁鼓勵加拿大企業善用香港平台把握亞洲及其他地區的基建及公私營合作計劃所帶來的商機。
網上研討會由Gowling WLG合夥人Thomas Timmins及加拿大公私營合作管理局主席兼首席行政總監Mark Romoff主持，其他講者包括亞洲基礎設施投資銀行（投資）總幹事Rajat Misra、香港公私營合作學會副主席譚偉強、加拿大智能運輸系統協會國際事務委員會主席Joseph Lam、香港貿易發展局加拿大代表芮紹能及C4P Inc總裁莊桂華。
