Still room for Hong Kong-EU cooperation as Asean, Mideast no substitute: outgoing diplomat
- Thomas Gnocchi, outgoing head of EU office in Hong Kong, also urges city to uphold its uniqueness to maintain appeal to businesses
Hong Kong still has plenty of room to work with Europe despite geopolitical tensions and the city should recognise Asean and Middle East countries are no substitute for the continent, the outgoing head of the local EU office has said.
“Hong Kong was an open society and is no longer an open society, that would be how I would characterise the changes that have taken place,” he told the Post in an interview last week.
“The political changes and the overall environment do have an impact on decisions by companies on where they base their operations … It’s important to maintain the uniqueness of Hong Kong, in the economic field, but also beyond the economic field.”
Hong Kong has been caught in the crossfire between China and the West in recent years, especially following Beijing’s imposition of the national security law and the ensuing “patriots-only” electoral shake-up that effectively dismantled the city’s once-vibrant opposition bloc.
The local administration has shifted the city’s focus to emerging markets, notably in the Middle East and the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, amid such heightened geopolitical tensions.