https://www.scmp.com/rss/506262/feed Daryl Ng is chairman of Sino Group and the founding chairman of the Hong Kong-Asean Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation promoting and deepening ties between Hong Kong and Asean to build a community of shared future to reinforce Hong Kong’s international position and support future growth. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Daryl Ng Daryl Ng The Hong Kong government has started the year with initiatives that have far-reaching impacts on the city’s long-term growth. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced that he is spearheading Hong Kong’s inaugural five-year plan, which will promote broader integration with China’s five-year plan and ensure a bigger role for the city in the nation’s economic development. He also reaffirmed deeper engagement with countries in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia to open up new markets... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3343896/building-asean-ties-puts-hong-kong-path-long-term-growth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3343896/building-asean-ties-puts-hong-kong-path-long-term-growth?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 01:30:09 +0000 Daryl Ng Daryl Ng On October 26, East Timor officially acceded to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) at the opening of the annual summit, as the 11th member of the regional bloc. Known officially as Timor-Leste, the country gained full independence on May 20, 2002, after a United Nations-supervised referendum in 1999. With a population of 1.4 million and its capital in Dili, East Timor is rich in oil and natural gas reserves located in the Timor Sea. The country also exports coffee, vanilla and... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3332149/east-timors-membership-marks-new-chapter-asean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3332149/east-timors-membership-marks-new-chapter-asean?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Nov 2025 01:30:09 +0000 Daryl Ng Daryl Ng The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is the world’s largest trade bloc. Including all 10 economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), mainland China, Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, the group contributes to 30 per cent of global gross domestic product and over 25 per cent of global exports. In September, Asean’s economic ministers issued a joint statement affirming their desire to accelerate the addition of four new members into the RCEP –... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3327919/how-joining-rcep-will-boost-hong-kongs-role-superconnector?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3327919/how-joining-rcep-will-boost-hong-kongs-role-superconnector?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Oct 2025 01:30:08 +0000 Daryl Ng Daryl Ng The signing of the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organisation for Mediation (IOMed) in Hong Kong today is a truly exciting development for Hong Kong and a significant milestone for the global legal community. Initiated by China and nearly 20 like-minded countries in 2022, the IOMed is the world’s first inter-governmental international legal organisation dedicated to resolving international disputes through mediation, a crucial mechanism for upholding the principles of the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3312133/hong-kong-cements-its-status-international-mediation-centre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3312133/hong-kong-cements-its-status-international-mediation-centre?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 May 2025 01:30:07 +0000 The third plenum of the Communist Party of China’s 20th Central Committee, which concluded on July 18, provided a clear long-term development plan for the country over the next five years and beyond. Comprehensive in scope, large in scale, broad and deep in reach and consequential in all respects, the plenum’s visionary grand design has promising implications for Hong Kong. Reform is central to the plenum and road map, as it has been since setting the country on an impressive growth trajectory... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3273521/how-hong-kong-can-fulfil-its-crucial-role-chinas-modernisation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3273521/how-hong-kong-can-fulfil-its-crucial-role-chinas-modernisation?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Aug 2024 22:30:10 +0000 Today marks a historic moment for Hong Kong. A new, long-awaited visa-free scheme takes effect, ensuring seamless travel for non-Chinese permanent residents in Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland. Announced on July 1, the 27th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, these non-Chinese permanent residents can apply for a mainland China travel permit with validity of five years, during which they can make multiple visits to the mainland of up to 90 days each... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3269773/mainland-china-travel-permits-boon-hong-kong-business-community?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3269773/mainland-china-travel-permits-boon-hong-kong-business-community?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jul 2024 08:30:09 +0000 The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which entered into force on January 1, 2022, encompasses all 10 Asean member states plus China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. It represents 30 per cent of the world’s population and 30 per cent of global gross domestic product, and epitomises the virtues of open and dynamic trade relations, the very foundation on which Hong Kong was built into a global logistics, trading and financial hub. Hong Kong filed an application to... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3260686/hong-kong-poised-be-bigger-force-regional-prosperity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3260686/hong-kong-poised-be-bigger-force-regional-prosperity?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Apr 2024 01:30:23 +0000 Time and time again, I have been asked if I believe in Hong Kong’s future, and if our city can thrive amid the geopolitics in the region and globally. To this question, I always answer in the affirmative. Hong Kong’s future lies in leveraging its strengths and wherewithal as China’s most international, cosmopolitan and forward-thinking city. We need to continue to connect China with the world and facilitate the growth of the Global South as those economies rapidly rise. Co-creating this future... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3243189/time-hong-kong-open-its-doors-asean-talent-and-capital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3243189/time-hong-kong-open-its-doors-asean-talent-and-capital?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Nov 2023 01:30:10 +0000 As Hong Kong reopens, we must seize the moment for meaningful re-internationalisation and the 10-member Asean bloc, our second-largest trading partner, is a linchpin. Within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Indonesia is the largest economy. It is the world’s 10th-largest economy in purchasing power parity terms and poised to become the fourth-largest by 2045; Indonesia’s strategic importance is only increasing. The International Monetary Fund expects its economy to grow by 5 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3220399/how-hong-kong-can-deepen-engagement-indonesia-aseans-largest-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3220399/how-hong-kong-can-deepen-engagement-indonesia-aseans-largest-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 May 2023 00:15:14 +0000 China is reassuring the world that it is reopening, and will continue to reform. Vice-Premier Liu He, China’s economic tsar, raised the curtain on the nation’s comeback at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this month. His official affirmation heralded a return to normality, not just for China but for the global economy. The message, delivered during Liu’s first visit to the annual summit in five years, helped to fuel a sense of optimism about the global outlook and coincided with an... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3208442/buzz-around-chinas-reopening-underscores-its-importance-global-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3208442/buzz-around-chinas-reopening-underscores-its-importance-global-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Jan 2023 00:15:12 +0000 In his speech on the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, President Xi Jinping affirmed the central government’s support for Hong Kong “in maintaining its unique status and strengths... and in expanding smooth and convenient linkages with the rest of the world”. This sentiment perfectly applies to Hong Kong’s role and future development as the nexus of China-Asean relations. Hong Kong is strategically located on the route connecting mainland China with the world’s fastest-growing... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3199991/hong-kong-key-stronger-china-asean-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3199991/hong-kong-key-stronger-china-asean-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 19 Nov 2022 23:30:11 +0000 President Xi Jinping has laid to rest concerns people may have had about Hong Kong’s continued vitality as an international financial and business centre. In his speech here on July 1, he resoundingly endorsed “one country, two systems”, saying: “There is no reason for us to change such a good policy, and we must adhere to it in the long run.” Indeed, he mentioned one country, two systems 20 times in the speech. He also reaffirmed that the central government “fully supports Hong Kong in its... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3186452/hong-kong-must-reopen-its-international-border-fulfil-its-destiny?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3186452/hong-kong-must-reopen-its-international-border-fulfil-its-destiny?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Jul 2022 22:45:21 +0000 I was born in Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam 42 years ago, a third-generation member of an immigrant family from Singapore. I was raised and educated in Hong Kong. This is where I built my career, where my children were born and are raised. Hong Kong is my home and where my heart is. Hongkongers of my generation have experienced phenomenal changes: we grew up under colonial rule, experienced the handover, and witnessed China’s rise. The entire 50-year span of “one country, two systems” will... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3088897/hong-kongs-gen-x-has-duty-help-city-and-its-youth-forge-better?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3088897/hong-kongs-gen-x-has-duty-help-city-and-its-youth-forge-better?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jun 2020 01:30:09 +0000