Hong Kong, September 2 (Xinhua) — In a recent interview with China News Service and other media, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) Deputy Executive Director Patrick Lau said that as the Belt and Road Initiative enters its next golden decade, the HKTDC will actively support national development through three major strategies: conducting outreach activities, building an information platform to strengthen publicity and promotion, and hosting large-scale international conferences, so that Hong Kong can fully leverage its advantage of "backed by the motherland and connected to the world" to capture opportunities.

Lau said that since the beginning of this year, the HKTDC has used its network of 50 offices worldwide to co-organize and organize multiple delegations for outreach activities, including the mainland-Hong Kong business delegation in May hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and the Belt and Road Office under the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government, which facilitated 14 memoranda of understanding and agreements covering partnerships in market expansion, financial payments, the startup ecosystem, investment cooperation, and logistics.

Wang Tianshi, founder and CEO of Hong Kong fintech company AnchorX, who participated in the May delegation, said that during the visit two memoranda of understanding were signed with local institutions in Kazakhstan, including exploring the use of stablecoins for cross-border payments in energy trade between Kazakhstan and Hong Kong to address the low efficiency of traditional payments.

Wang said the delegation brought him business opportunities in Kazakhstan, a country worth further exploration and investment. As an international trade center, Hong Kong is capable of using the Belt and Road Initiative to promote global trade relations.

You Ziwei, managing partner of CoTech Capital, who also participated in the May delegation, said that during the visit a memorandum of cooperation was signed with Kazakhstan's Astana Hub international IT startup technology park, and that the firm will continue to seek investment opportunities in Belt and Road partner countries.

On hosting large-scale international conferences, Lau disclosed that the ninth Belt and Road Summit, co-organized by the Hong Kong SAR Government and the HKTDC, will be held in Hong Kong from September 11 to 12. It will feature a Green Chapter for the first time to explore green development and innovation, and participants will discuss how to use Hong Kong's platform to develop green business. He expects nearly 6,000 participants, similar to last year.

Reporters learned that the HKTDC will soon open new consultant offices in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to further expand its Belt and Road network and continue promoting Hong Kong's development to the overseas business community.

Lau believes that Hong Kong, as an important construction node and platform of the Belt and Road Initiative, plays the role of "super connector" and "super value-adder" in the regional economy with ASEAN, and its unique advantage of being "backed by the motherland and connected to the world" can add value for ASEAN member states.