Hong Kong businesses gear up for opportunities along Asia’s new Silk Road
Cultural treasures abound from Uzbekistan to Egypt for tourism operators as China-led investment bank pumps money into trade corridor
Hong Kong businesses are looking to exploit opportunities along the “belt and road” corridor following the city’s inclusion in March as a member of a key China-led investment bank funding projects along Asia’s new Silk Road trading route.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, headquartered in Beijing, is part of the country’s global trade development strategy aiming to support infrastructure development costing an estimated HK$310 trillion (US$40 trillion) across Asia until 2030, mainly in countries included in the so-called “Belt and Road Initiative”.
Peter Wong Man-kong, a veteran local member of the national legislature, has been doing business in belt and road countries for 20 years and has visited about 25 of them, and his enthusiasm for the opportunities they present has not waned.
“We have been working in cultural tourism in ancient townships in Iran, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to develop tourism sites,” said Wong, who is also an honorary chairman of Hong Kong’s Chinese General Chamber of Commerce.
