Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4
Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the “Partnering for Success – Hong Kong as a ‘Super Connector’ and ‘Super Value-Adder’ for Central Asia” High-level Business Luncheon in Astana today (June 2):
Your Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Zhumangarin (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan, Mr Serik Zhumangarin), Your Excellency Ambassador Han Chunlin (Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Republic of Kazakhstan), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. As-salamu alaykum (peace be upon you).
It is a great pleasure to be here with you in the dazzling city of Astana, home to one of the world’s most futuristic skylines. Next year, Astana celebrates its 30th anniversary as the dynamic capital of Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s largest economy. I am sure, for the Hong Kong delegates, you will immediately notice that the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) will also celebrate our 30th anniversary next year. Yes, Astana and the HKSAR are of the same age. We celebrate the same anniversary each and every year. Surely, we are close.
Astana’s futuristic architecture brilliantly reflects Kazakhstan’s forward-looking spirit: a country in compelling motion, building for a flourishing future.
I am more than delighted to be here with you today. And with me, I’m pleased to say, is an equally enthusiastic delegation – more than 70 high-profile business and institutional leaders from Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland. They come from a wide variety of sectors and specialisations, including finance and professional services, innovation and technology, transport and logistics, property development, energy, mining and much more.
It is my honour to meet His Excellency President Tokayev, His Excellency Prime Minister Bektenov, and two deputy prime ministers, His Excellency Zhumangarin – he is a guest among us today – and His Excellency Madiyev, over these two days. I thank, in particular, His Excellency Zhumangarin for being present, despite his heavy schedule, today at the luncheon as our guest of honour.
This is the first time a Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR has led a mission to Central Asia.
And there is a historic significance in making Kazakhstan our first stop. It was here, at Astana’s Nazarbayev University in 2013, that President Xi Jinping first raised the visionary initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt – today’s Belt and Road Initiative.
So, yes, Kazakhstan holds a special place, and influence, in international co-operation under the Belt and Road Initiative.
Located at the strategic crossroads of Europe and Asia, Kazakhstan has, for centuries, connected Eastern and Western civilisations, serving as a bridge of commerce, culture and innovative ideas.
That legacy continues today. From the port of Khorgos to the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, Kazakhstan is now a business and logistics hub linking China, our country, and Europe.
Rich in oil and mineral resources, and rapidly developing and diversifying, Kazakhstan is a regional economic powerhouse. Hong Kong, a pivotal player in the Belt and Road Initiative, looks forward to working with Kazakhstan – with you – in creating mutual opportunities.
I have noted that Kazakhstan has set an ambitious target – doubling the size of its economy by 2030, from its 2023 level, and becoming one of the world’s top 30 economies by 2050.
That’s the forward-looking spirit I’m talking about. For Hong Kong, it’s an invitation to deepen our exchanges, to open new areas of opportunity and co-operation. Advancing, and advancing much further.
Like Kazakhstan, Hong Kong has long been a nexus between East and West. We are one of the world’s top three financial centres and the world’s largest offshore Renminbi business hub.
We are also ranked No.1, globally, in economic freedom, and, last week, Hong Kong was recognised as the world’s No.1 largest cross-boundary wealth management centre. Our business environment is open, welcoming and efficient. We maintain a simple and low tax regime, while ensuring the free flow of capital, information, goods and talent.
For some 200 years, free trade has been the steady heartbeat of Hong Kong’s prosperity. Now the world’s fifth-largest merchandise trading entity, we are, and will remain, a free port. Amid heightened geopolitical tensions and rising protectionism, Hong Kong, like our country China, will continue to uphold a multilateral, rules-based global economy.
Ladies and gentlemen, in the next few minutes, I am going to share with you figures, and rankings, that showcase Hong Kong’s rapid development, and its place in this increasingly complex world.
But, let me add, that numbers alone can’t fully capture our value.
Hong Kong, after all, is the only economy in the world to enjoy the dual advantages of unwavering support from China, our country, together with deep international connectivity. We are the world’s “super connector” and “super value-adder”, adding value to everything we do – and to every economy and company we work with.
The “one country, two systems” principle makes it happen.
Under this unique principle, Hong Kong has its own economic, social, legal, legislative and judicial systems. We are the only common law jurisdiction in China. We have our own currency, with no capital or foreign exchange controls. We are, as well, a separate customs territory.
Our laws and regulations in such areas as investment, finance, business and trade are aligned with those of the world’s most major economies. And, no less important, our judiciary exercises its powers independently.
That, ladies and gentlemen, gives the international community the confidence to do business in Hong Kong – and, for many, to build a future in Hong Kong. Our ranking, last year, as the world’s third-largest destination for global foreign direct investment, underlines that confidence.
So do our latest figures for regional and global headquarters. Last year, the number of non-local companies in Hong Kong, with Chinese Mainland or overseas parent companies, rose to over 11 000. That’s an 11 per cent year-on-year increase, and a record high.
Our start-ups reached a record high, too, exceeding 5 200, also up 11 per cent over the previous year.
The “one country, two systems” principle ensures Hong Kong’s unparalleled access to the markets of the Chinese Mainland. Capitalising on our global connectivity and world-class professional services, Hong Kong is your ideal, two-way springboard for business expansion.
Our growing connectivity, and robust economy, are supported by a diverse and multilingual talent pool. Hong Kong is the only city in the world with five universities among the world’s top 100. We also attract global talent, offering rewarding career opportunities, superb connectivity and a vibrant, East-meets-West lifestyle.
Our versatile and thriving workforce will fuel the city’s innovative future. Yes, we are developing today the industries that will define our continuing success tomorrow. Hong Kong is fast emerging as an international innovation and technology centre.
The World Intellectual Property Organization, last year, ranked the innovation cluster formed by Hong Kong and our neighbouring cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou No.1, globally, among the world’s top 100 innovation clusters.
That’s a testament to our research and innovation prowess, to channelling capital that turns ideas into innovative commercial outcomes, and our close partnership with other southern Chinese cities.
I saw firsthand, yesterday, that commitment manifested in your extraordinary International Center for Artificial Intelligence here in Astana. And I know that Kazakhstan, late last year, established its Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, and that you have declared 2026 the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence. You are building Alatau City, which will rise as a future-oriented urban centre, with a focus on technological innovation, sustainability, and green growth.
Hong Kong has its own Alatau – the Northern Metropolis. Spanning one-third of our city’s area, geographically, and close to our boundary with the Chinese Mainland, the Northern Metropolis is designed to become our fast-beating I&T heart and urban centre, as well as a university town.
It provides vast pieces of land for development. We are streamlining procedures and drawing up preferential policy packages to help businesses, and a world of investors, settle in smoothly. And we will formulate dedicated legislation to speed up the Northern Metropolis’ development.
More than an engine for growth, the Northern Metropolis provides a strategic connection point to the Greater Bay Area. That is the cluster city development integrating Hong Kong, Macao and nine major centres in southern China, Shenzhen and Guangzhou included.
To put that in perspective, the Greater Bay Area has a population of 88 million – similar to Central Asia’s 85 million. The Greater Bay Area’s combined GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is about US$2 trillion, close to that of the world’s 10th-largest economy.
I see strategic, long-term opportunities for Hong Kong and Kazakhstan. We can complement each other, create rewarding opportunities together – for our economies, our companies and our communities.
Our delegates, from Hong Kong and from the Chinese Mainland, are eager to talk to you about co-operation and investment – in the Northern Metropolis, in the Greater Bay Area, and beyond.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that Kazakhstan can serve as a hub for Hong Kong to connect with the Central Asian market. In turn, Hong Kong can be Central Asia’s hub in the east and southeast Asian region, connecting the Greater Bay Area, the Chinese Mainland, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and beyond. By strengthening co-operation between our two hubs, we can construct a hub-to-hub co-operation model.
As a top international financial centre, Hong Kong can help Kazakhstan attract foreign investment, raise capital and provide financial services for privatisation, company listings and SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) consolidation.
Hong Kong is also Asia’s leading sustainable finance hub, topping the region, for eight consecutive years, in arranging international green and sustainable bond issuances. Last year, our issuance volume claimed 40 per cent of the regional total.
Our strengths in green and sustainable finance and infrastructure can support Kazakhstan’s transition to a low-carbon economy, while our innovation and technology expertise can help fast-track your digitalisation across industries.
In transport and logistics, our internationally recognised infrastructure management, in railways, airport and port, can help promote Kazakhstan’s development as a regional logistics hub.
Gold, too, is rich in promise. Kazakhstan is renowned for its abundant gold reserves. As for Hong Kong, we are building an international gold trading market. And we are encouraging gold traders to set up or expand their refineries in Hong Kong.
We are boosting Hong Kong’s gold storage, targeting a capacity of more than 2 000 tonnes over the next three years. That, ladies and gentlemen, will see Hong Kong’s rise as a regional gold reserve hub. In that, I’m confident there is glittering opportunity for us both.
Our ties are growing apace, and in wide-ranging ways. Last year, Kazakhstan was Hong Kong’s largest trading partner in Central Asia. At the beginning of this year, Hong Kong was the world’s 10th-largest net investor in Kazakhstan, and Asia’s fourth-largest.
The good news is that our trade and investment flows have substantial room to expand, particularly in such sectors as agricultural products, renewable energy, mining and tourism.
Last September, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan issued a 2 billion Renminbi-denominated “dim sum” bond in Hong Kong. That was the first issuance of its kind by a Central Asian entity.
Last August, a mining company in Almaty completed a dual listing on the Astana International Exchange and the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, raising over US$150 million, with more listings expected to come.
I am encouraged, as well, by our education co-operation. Kazakhstan is one of the largest recipients of Hong Kong’s Belt and Road Scholarship.
Your country is also among the top three sources of Belt and Road students in Hong Kong, with some 500 Kazakhstani students studying in our publicly funded universities this academic year.
Four of our universities have entered into MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with Kazakhstani institutions or established a presence in Kazakhstan, further strengthening our shared Belt and Road talent pool – an essential foundation for long-term co-operation.
Our people-to-people ties are expanding beyond education, I’m pleased to say. Over the past three years, the number of Kazakhstani nationals visiting Hong Kong has increased fourfold, to over 20 000. A good start, but there is much room for us to achieve bigger achievements. I’m confident we can really raise that to a very high level, with both of us working together, particularly when there will be direct flights in the first quarter of next year.
Allow me to share several more cheering developments between us, concluded during our visit this time.
They include expanding the coverage of our Economic and Trade Offices to priority countries in Central Asia, to strengthen our economic and trade promotion work in the region.
Our Belt and Road Office and Invest Hong Kong are working closely with their Kazakhstani counterparts, including the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, the Astana International Financial Centre and the Kazakh Invest National Company, to advance practical, project-led, company-driven co-operation.
And Hong Kong and Kazakhstan will expedite actions on exploratory discussions on a Comprehensive Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement, as well as discussions on an Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement. These pacts will surely pave the way for broader, stronger economic ties.
Putting these, and other co-operation accords together, I am pleased to note that during this visit, 43 MOUs and agreements have been concluded by the delegation with companies and organisations from Kazakhstan. They span aviation, finance and trade, innovation and technology, the digital economy, green development, and more. And we are not done yet, as the work continues and I expect there will be more agreements to come.
And I am delighted to tell you that, in the first quarter of next year, this direct flight from Hong Kong to Almaty will, I hope, be bringing people directly from Hong Kong to Almaty at least more than once a week. We have been working to achieve that goal. Great news for business and investment, for tourism, education, arts and culture and much more.
Let me add that we are finalising an agreement with Kazakhstan on further extending the visa-free period. We are exchanging further information, and both of us have the will to get the work done as soon as possible.
Ladies and gentlemen, working together, there is far more for us to explore, pursue and achieve for our two economies and peoples.
This is just the beginning of a long-term partnership and enduring friendship. Of that, I am very sure.
In an increasingly complex, uncertain and fast-evolving world, trust, connectivity and collaboration are the central foundations of progress, mutual opportunity and societal well-being.
My thanks to our Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council for organising today’s welcome gathering. I am grateful, as well, to the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Atamaken, for your generous support.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the time for us to enjoy our lunch. Hug each other, exchange your numbers, WeChat, whatever social media addresses you have. And more importantly, treat each other as longstanding friends. We are your resources, and we are your opportunities. So, treat us as your resources, treat us as your opportunities. This is what friends are all about. Thank you very much!