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Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA)
Business

Hong Kong Monetary Authority set to invest in international infrastructure developers

News comes just days after the authority agreed to provided US$1 billion to a programme to support infrastructure projects in emerging markets

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HKMA chief executive Norman Chan Tak-lam. Photo: Tony Cheung
Tony Cheung

The Hong Kong Monetary ­Authority will cooperate with ­several pension or professional funds to invest in ­infrastructure developers in a bid to further tap into Beijing’s “Belt and Road” trade initiative and strengthen Hong Kong’s ­international ­financial status.

The announcement from Norman Chan Tak-lam, head of the city’s de facto central bank, came days after the authority agreed to provided US$1 billion to a programme run by the World Bank’s International Finance Corp (IFC) to support infrastructure projects in emerging markets. The HKMA’s commitment to the managed co-lending portfolio programme (MCPP), a syndicated loan platform, could help boost its investment returns.

Since establishing the Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office (IFFO) in July 2016, the HKMA has been keen to strengthen Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre by pooling together interested equity and credit investors for infrastructure investments in emerging markets.

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Last month, Chan said that the office will set up new mechanisms so that the Exchange Fund, which holds Hong Kong’s reserves used for defending its currency, can be used to cooperate with international funds to invest in “good projects” in countries under the Belt and Road initiative, a trade strategy which spans Asia and Europe.

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Speaking on the sidelines of a trade symposium in London, Chan said the authority’s commitment to the MCPP was “partly related” to his pledge in August.

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“The IFC doesn’t offer any equity investment products ... but we are interested in that, so equity investment will be our next and second track,” he said.

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