Legco filibusters make it harder for government to support Hong Kong entrepreneurs, Regina Ip says

Veteran lawmaker says Monetary Authority headed ‘right way’ by offering funding platform for stakeholders

China Conference: Hong Kong

Denise Tsang

Published: 12:30pm, 2 Dec 2016

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Hong Kong entrepreneurs are likely to have to rely on their own funding when seeking to capitalise on the mainland’s go-global initiative thanks to constant filibustering in the legislature, according to pro-government lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee.

Ip, who was asked what public resources she would earmark for the city if she were chief executive, said the frequent filibusters made it difficult to secure funding resources for projects and for creating posts at the government’s Belt and Road Office, which was set up in the summer to promote the trade plan.

“That’s why Yvonne Choi [Ying-pik] is doing pro bono,” she said at the South China Morning Post’s China Conference on Friday morning. Choi is the Office’s newly appointed commissioner.

Chief executive highlights Hong Kong’s advantages under ‘One Belt, One Road’

Still, Ip believed that if the government’s initiatives “really worked”, there was a good chance the Legislative Council would give them a thumbs up.

The veteran lawmaker said some entrepreneurs in Hong Kong had gathered smaller funds to invest in different projects, while entrepreneurs across the border had set up projects in the Malaysian state of Johor to attract Hong Kong businesses.

Ip, who earlier said she would announce her bid for the top post “in due course”, said the city’s de facto central bank, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, was already going “the right way forward” by offering a funding platform for stakeholders such as investors, professional services providers and project developers.

She added that Hong Kong should place priority on the Maritime Silk Road, a trade belt connecting China with Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe, one of the two legs of the “One Belt, One Road” trade strategy. The other is the New Silk Road economic belt linking China and Europe. The overall strategy is the brainchild of President Xi Jinping and was unveiled in 2013.

“Hong Kong is not only a gateway but also an active participant and a catalyst for the trade initiative,” Ip said. “We have strengths such as extensive business expertise and person-to-person networks in Asia.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Filibusters make it hard for government to back entrepreneurs, Ip says

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