The view of Hong Kong Photo: VCG

 
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Tuesday signed the First Protocol to Amend the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Hong Kong and ASEAN to update the Product Specific Rules (PSR) of origin under the FTA, enhancing the coverage of the PSR from more than 200 categories of products to almost 600, the HKSAR government said in a statement. 

The specified products incorporated into the FTA through the protocol include products under various categories that local traders and manufacturers have expressed interest in, such as jewelry, medicaments, foods and textile products. 

The signing of the protocol will help enhance the competitiveness of the products and facilitate trade flows, creating more business opportunities for Hong Kong businesses in the ASEAN market. 

Hong Kong businesses can more easily and effectively gain Hong Kong-originating status for an increased number of products and enjoy preferential tariff treatment when expanding in ASEAN. 

"ASEAN is Hong Kong's second-largest trading partner in merchandise trade with a total trade volume of around HK$1,294 billion ($165.6 billion) in 2022, representing a growth of over 38 percent since the signing of the FTA in 2017. Our burgeoning trade has been uplifted by the FTA, signifying the latter's importance in consolidating our position as an international trade center," Algernon Yau, Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development who signed the protocol, said. 

"I have full confidence that the implementation of the protocol will further drive growth in our economic and trade relations with the ASEAN member states. As a staunch proponent of free trade, Hong Kong, joining hands with our trading partners, will continue to strive for further liberalization of trade in the region," Yau said.

Yau told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on December 2023 that ASEAN is a big economy with which Hong Kong has a good relationship. When he visited some Southeast Asian countries in 2023, Yau said that there are many opportunities and Hong Kong has to diversify its attention and do more to explore the Southeast Asia market. 


Global Times