Visitors seen at the 8th Belt and Road Summit 2023 in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China on September 13. The summit attracted nearly 6,000 government officials, business leaders, entrepreneurs and start-up representatives from nearly 70 countries and regions. Photo: IC

Enterprises and professional service providers in Hong Kong have developed their business in the countries and regions along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which fully demonstrates Hong Kong's professional services are at the forefront of the BRI, said John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), hkcna reported on Sunday.

Lee made the remarks ahead of leading a 70-member delegation to Beijing on Monday to attend the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, hkcna reported.

Hong Kong is a participant, contributor and beneficiary of the BRI, Lee said, adding that Hong Kong is home to a diversified group of service providers across different professions, which can provide enterprises with the high-quality professional services required for projects under the BRI, as well as one-stop solutions such as financial investment.

Lee cited the example of a consultancy firm that was registered in Hong Kong as early as 1874, with the city as its headquarters. The firm has offices in many places around the world and has participated in a number of projects under the BRI, including the Al Shaqab Equestrian Academy in Doha, Qatar and a Doha government building in Qatar. "It fully demonstrates that Hong Kong's professional services are in the forefront of the BRI," Lee noted.

Lee pointed out that under One Country, Two Systems, Hong Kong has the unique advantage of being backed by the motherland and connected to the world, and plays a mutually beneficial and win-win role with countries and regions along the BRI in the investment and financing of international projects as well as offshore yuan business, support for professional services, and economic, trade, and exchanges and co-operation.

As an international city and an international financial center, Hong Kong can attract international organizations to settle in the city, so as to build it into an international organization center under the BRI, Liang Haiming, dean of the Hainan University Belt and Road Research Institute, told the Global Times on Sunday.

The HKSAR government has been actively promoting the BRI. Since this year, Lee has led a high-level delegation of the HKSAR to visit the Middle East and three ASEAN member states to open up room for cooperation.

Hong Kong has signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with 20 economies and investment agreements with 31 economies, and is striving for accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's largest FTA.

If Hong Kong can assist the mainland in attracting more international financial and economic organizations to be stationed in the city and consider creating more international financial and economic organizations, the region can seize new opportunities in geo-economics and capitalize on the trend of the rapid development of internet finance, mobile payments and green finance, Liang said.

At the same time, this will bring development to the relevant industries in Hong Kong and consolidate and develop Hong Kong's status as an international financial center, Liang noted.