HONG KONG, September 14 — Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po used his weekly blog post on Sunday, September 13, to set out a plan for the city to deepen ties with emerging economies worldwide, expanding connections with the Middle East and Belt and Road countries across finance, innovation and technology. Chan said Hong Kong aimed to build “networked and institutionalised” connectivity with the Global South, a broad term for developing, less-industrialised countries primarily located in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Belt and Road countries are nations that have signed cooperation agreements with, or participate in, the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing’s plan to link global economies into a China-centred trading network.
Anchored in the five-year plan
Chan cited the country’s 15th five-year plan, the 2026-30 national blueprint, writing: “The nation’s steadfast and all-round support [for Hong Kong] forms the foundation for Hong Kong to accelerate its engagement with the Global South.” That blueprint pledges support for Hong Kong to develop into an international innovation and technology centre and to consolidate and enhance its status as a global hub for finance, shipping and trade. On green finance, Chan said a broader domain of cross-regional cooperation includes the green transition, which requires alignment of standards and rules.
He said climate change exerts the most direct impact on the Global South, and that the substantial financing gap in green transition demands credible standards allowing investors to deploy capital with confidence and precision. He noted that green and sustainable bond issuance arranged in Hong Kong totalled US$20.2 billion in the first half of this year, ranking first in Asia for eight consecutive years.
He said capital requires channels, technology requires application scenarios, and rules are the key elements enabling the two to connect, calling this another contribution Hong Kong makes to the Global South. Chan stressed the cooperation was mutually beneficial, saying the Global South brings more business opportunities, capital inflows and deeper market liquidity to Hong Kong, while Hong Kong provides substantive and essential support for their development.
Middle East ties widen
On closer financial ties with the Middle East, Chan noted that Sohar International Bank, the second-largest lender in Oman, had opened its first office outside the Middle East in Hong Kong, becoming the first bank from the sultanate to set up in the city. The Oman Investment Authority also announced plans to participate in the Hong Kong government’s Innovation and Technology Venture Fund. Chan said cooperation between Hong Kong and the Middle East was expanding from finance into innovation and technology, elevating bilateral economic and investment relations into broader domains.
Chan also pointed to Hong Kong’s research and development capabilities, backed by the strength of the innovation and industrial chain of the Greater Bay Area, a cluster comprising Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland Chinese cities.
He said that for partners in the Middle East and Central Asia, this means Hong Kong offers practical innovation and research capabilities, commercialisation pathways and high-end industrial capacity, and that combining these strengths with the advanced manufacturing capabilities and vast market of Greater Bay Area cities yields not only commercial returns but also high-quality development benefiting all parties.
