The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank plans to establish an office in Hong Kong, as Financial Secretary Paul Chan promoted the city as a partner for regional infrastructure projects and sustainable development. Chan welcomed the plan and said Hong Kong could use its strengths in international financial markets and professional services to support the bank’s work.
Speaking at the AIIB governors’ business roundtable in Doha, Chan argued that turning development needs into completed infrastructure requires more than funding. Projects also need planning, preparation, management and implementation capabilities across their full life cycle, he said. Chan called for the bank to strengthen the sharing of knowledge and experience among members and provide greater support for project preparation, while saying Hong Kong would continue helping create conditions for financing and implementation.
Chan also presented Hong Kong’s digital public infrastructure as part of that offer. In a keynote address, he cited the iAM Smart platform and Faster Payment System as examples of services that provide identity authentication, secure data exchange and convenient payments. He said digital infrastructure can improve public services, facilitate payments and cross-border transactions, while Business Data Connect can help small and medium-sized enterprises use data to obtain trade finance. Artificial intelligence could improve the effectiveness of such infrastructure, he said, but cybersecurity and data privacy would need to be strengthened.
In his meeting with AIIB President Zou Jiayi, Chan expressed hope for wider cooperation on catastrophe bonds and green finance. In a meeting with Uzbekistan’s Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov, Chan encouraged Uzbek enterprises to use Hong Kong’s international financing platform, including opportunities involving exchange-traded products and real estate investment trusts. With Qatar Development Bank chief executive Abdulrahman Hesham Al-Sowaidi, he discussed bilateral trade, start-ups and venture-capital cooperation. Chan also met HSBC infrastructure-finance and sustainable-development chief executive Danny Alexander to discuss related opportunities.
Chan told the Qatari Businessmen Association that Hong Kong would explore mutual-recognition arrangements with the Qatar Stock Exchange, aimed at facilitating dual listings for Qatari companies seeking to expand in China and the Asia-Pacific region.