Protecting Hong Kong investors key concern for talks on Asean free-trade pact

Protecting Hong Kong investors from danger will be high on the agenda when the government starts free-trade talks with Asean nations, lawmakers have heard.

The pledge came from Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Gregory So Kam-leung, in the light of anti-China riots in Vietnam, which is a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Lawmakers in turn urged the government to act now, by evaluating the damage inflicted on Hong Kong businesses in the current unrest and demanding compensation from the Vietnamese authorities.

Talks were looming in July over a Hong Kong-Asean free-trade pact, which So said would provide for investment promotion and protection.

"The agreement would require a contracting party to ensure the safety of investments made by the other party," he told a meeting of the Legislative Council's commerce and industry panel yesterday.

According to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the agreement would require countries to reasonably compensate investors if their businesses suffered any loss of property during a war or other emergency situation, though it would not guarantee full compensation in a riot.