Third Belt and Road Summit Opens on Thursday

Hong Kong-Thailand bilateral cooperation deepens

Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the HKSAR, will deliver the opening remarks and Xiao Yaqing, Chairman, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), Ning Jizhe, Vice Chairman, National Development and Reform Commission and Gao Yan, Vice Minister, Ministry of Commerce of Chinese Mainland will give special addresses at the opening session. Dr Somkid Jatusripitak, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, will deliver a keynote speech on how the Belt and Road Initiative is driving the steady growth of the global economy and how Thailand and other ASEAN countries can get involved.

Vincent HS Lo, Chairman of the HKTDC, said: "The HKTDC has been reaching out to various Belt and Road countries through business missions to explore business opportunities for Hong Kong. Following our mission to Thailand last year, we are delighted to have Thai Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak to speak at our Summit this year in recognition of our commitment. It also shows both Hong Kong and Thailand agree there are immense collaboration opportunities under the Belt and Road Initiative for both sides to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. I hope other Belt and Road countries will follow suit and leverage Hong Kong as the platform to capture the socio-economic benefits the Initiative unlocks."

Echoing the Summit's theme of collaboration, Hong Kong companies from the electricity and architectural sectors will sign memoranda of understanding with their Thai partners at the Summit to implement cooperation plans.

Ministerial Dialogue discussing intergovernmental cooperation

Plenary luncheon will be chaired by Edward Yau Tang-wah, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Government of the HKSAR, who will discuss with Genadi Arveladze, Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Georgia; U Thaung Tun, Union Minister for the Ministry of the office of the Union Government, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; Baroness Fairhead, Minister of State for Trade and Export Promotion, Department for International Trade, the United Kingdom and Lim Sidenine, Secretary of State, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Kingdom of Cambodia. The speakers will examine how governments can enhance cooperation and support enterprises and investors to participate in Belt and Road projects.

Explore development opportunities for different industries

The plenary session entitled "Action through Collaboration: Case Studies on Signature Belt and Road Projects" will be moderated by Bernard Chan, President of Asia Financial Holdings Limited. Guest speakers include Liu Qitao, President of China Communications Construction Company Limited; Li Shufu, Vice Chairman of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and Chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group; Prof Frederick Ma, Chairman of MTR Corporation Limited; Manuel V Pangilinan, Chairman of Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, a renowned Filipino infrastructure company and Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, Vice Chairwoman of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN Indonesia) and Chief Executive Officer of Sintesa Group. They will share their first-hand experience and perspectives as investors and project owners on how to achieve an "all-win" outcome through collaboration.

Other breakout sessions will explore the new opportunities that the Belt and Road Initiative presents to areas including infrastructure financing, digital technology, construction, green finance, risk management and legal services. The sessions will also shed light on how enterprises can leverage Hong Kong's advantages to deliver better project quality and maximise returns. Additionally, young business leaders and leading women entrepreneurs will share their experience in Belt and Road markets.

More than 220 investment projects available

This year's Investment and Business Matching Session will be extended to a full day. More than 220 projects from over 40 countries and regions have already been received, including projects in Logistics, Infrastructure, Energy, Technology and Urban Development. One-to-one Business Matching Meetings will be arranged for project owners, investors and service providers based on their needs.

In addition, Project Pitching sessions covering the three sectors: Transport and Logistics Infrastructure; Energy, Natural Resources and Public Utilities and Rural and Urban Development will be organised for participants to learn about different projects.

For further information, the Global Investment Zone that features more than 50 investment promotion agencies from 29 countries will showcase the investment environments and projects of different regions, while the Hong Kong Zone will bring together more than 40 Hong Kong companies from four sectors: Banking and Financial Services, Information Technology, Infrastructure Development and Professional Services.

The third Belt and Road Summit has invited more than 34 global business leaders to serve as honorary advisors. China International Capital Corporation Ltd is the Summit's Strategic Partner. Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd is the Diamond Sponsor.

Belt and Road Summit website: www.beltandroadsummit.hk^[1]HKTDC Belt and Road Portal: www.beltandroad.hk^[2]Photo Download: https://bit.ly/2Mjxpm0^[3]

About HKTDC

Established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China, Asia and the world. With more than 50 years of experience, the HKTDC organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in international markets, while providing business insights and information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus^[4]. Follow us on Google+, Twitter @hktdc, LinkedIn.- Google+: https://plus.google.com/+hktdc^[5]- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hktdc^[6]- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-trade-development-council^[7]

Contact:

Billy Ng, Tel: +852 2584 4393, Email: [email protected]

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References

1. ^{^} www.beltandroadsummit.hk (www.beltandroadsummit.hk)
2. ^{^} www.beltandroad.hk (www.beltandroad.hk)
3. ^{^} https://bit.ly/2Mjxpm0 (bit.ly)
4. ^{^} www.hktdc.com/aboutus (www.hktdc.com)
5. ^{^} https://plus.google.com/+hktdc (plus.google.com)
6. ^{^} http://www.twitter.com/hktdc (www.twitter.com)
7. ^{^} http://www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-trade-development-council (www.linkedin.com)
8. ^{^} [email protected] (www.acnnewswire.com)
9. ^{^} HKTDC (www.hktdc.com)
10. ^{^} Trade Shows (www.acnnewswire.com)