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Michaela Browning with Carrie Lam. Photo: Handout

Carrie Lam’s policies may be boon for Hong Kong-Australia trade links, envoy to city says

Australian Consul General Michaela Browning says agenda set by the city’s leader includes the new economy, smart cities, and urban development, which the country is interested in

Australia’s trade and business links with Hong Kong could see an expansion, the country’s new top diplomat in the city said, pointing to the policies Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was set to launch.

Australian Consul General Michaela Browning said in an exclusive interview with the Post that it was Lam who helped to initiate the first ever free trade agreement between the two sides – which is still under negotiation – during her visit to Australia in 2015.

Browning, who took office three months ago, has already met Lam. “She has set a very ambitious agenda on things like the new economy, smart cities, and urban development – these are things that Australia has a lot of interest in supporting and getting engaged,” she said, referring to the Hong Kong leader.

Browning also spoke with Lam and other ministers about the mainland’s “go global” strategy, otherwise known as the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Greater Bay Area development that aims to deepen integration between Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong.

The diplomat said Australia’s decades-long strength in building and financing infrastructure could play a role in the Belt and Road Initiative, with Hong Kong as a “springboard”.

“We have a lot of expertise in private-public partnerships and many interesting ways of financing,” she said.

The Belt and Road Initiative is a trade plan which intends to link up business opportunities across 60 countries in Asia, Europe and Africa.

Browning said Lam was also keen on bilateral trade. “Lam advocated quite persuasively for a free trade agreement,” she said. She added that the aim of the talks was to formalise the liberal trading relationship the two sides currently have to ensure it would not change in future.

The agreement would cover a lot of new areas such as e-commerce, trading services, and competition policy, Browning said.

Last year, Australia was Hong Kong’s 19th trading partner, according to the city’s government. The city’s main exports to Australia include food and jewellery, while the country’s main exports to Hong Kong are food, dairy and telecommunications products.

Though Browning declined to comment on local politics, she said rule of law and independent courts were very important in making the city attractive to international businesses.

She stressed the two economies complement each other. “Australia needs Hong Kong’s expertise, particularly in financing and capital markets, and we have a lot of construction, design and other expertise.”

The Australian envoy also did not comment on the country’s recent decision to impose a 10 per cent Good and Services Tax (GST) on imports from July 1 next year, only saying that “tariffs are an important part of any free trade agreement, but certainly they are not the only thing”. The tax will be imposed on goods valued at A$1,000 (HK$6,200) or less.

But Kate Roff, an assistant commissioner in the Australian Taxation Office, told the Post that the purpose of the GST was “to level the playing field” for Australian businesses, whose goods are taxed, while imports are not. She expects about 150 Hong Kong-based companies to be affected.

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