LCQ9: Exploration of Central Asian markets for industrial and commercial sectors
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Question:
There are views that, as crucial hubs of the Belt and Road Initiative, Central Asian regions possess enormous potential for development and resources. The Chief Executive has also indicated that he will lead a delegation to visit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in early June of this year. However, Hong Kong's industrial and commercial sectors have generally relayed that they lack a deep understanding of the business environments, statutory regulations, and cultures of Central Asian markets, and that the transport and logistics links between Hong Kong and the regions have yet to be improved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that it currently has no economic and trade offices in Central Asian regions, whether there are any specific short to medium-term plans for transitional support to assist Hong Kong's small and medium enterprises in deepening their understanding of Central Asian markets and developing business opportunities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) as there are views pointing out insufficient destinations and frequencies of direct passenger and cargo flights between Hong Kong and various Central Asian countries, as well as the absence of direct flights between Hong Kong and either Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan, of the specific measures (such as co-ordinating the increase of direct flight destinations and facilitating logistical alignment between the Greater Bay Area and Central Asia) to leverage our country's support of the "Air Silk Road" in a bid to boost Hong Kong's appeal as a re-export hub for Central Asian goods; and
(3) whether there are specific measures to secure more favourable market conditions in Central Asian regions for Hong Kong's goods and services industries, and to provide all round support to Hong Kong's high-value-added professional services sectors in making inroads into Central Asian markets, thereby helping them promptly seize the vast business opportunities there?
Reply:
President,
The Government is committed to assisting the local business community to explore diversified markets, thereby consolidating Hong Kong's position as an international commercial hub. The Central Asian region is actively promoting diversification of its economic development. The region has seen rapid development in several key areas, including financial services, international trade, infrastructure, innovation and technology, tourism, and green sustainable development, with huge potential for market growth.
Having consulted the Transport and Logistics Bureau (TLB), the reply to the question raised by the Hon Jonathan Stuart Lamport is as follows:
(1) and (3) The Government has been adopting a multi-pronged approach to assist Hong Kong small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in better understanding the Central Asian market and exploring business opportunities through the different channels below.
Regarding overseas network, the Government has established 15 overseas Economic and Trade Offices (ETOs), and is committed to expanding the reach of the ETOs. In addition to strengthening economic and trade ties with traditional markets, as announced by the Chief Executive (CE) in the 2025 Policy Address, the Government will expand the coverage of the ETOs to emerging markets with good potential, including Central Asia. To attract high-potential enterprises from emerging countries to establish a presence in Hong Kong, Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) have set up consultant offices in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to jointly advance Hong Kong's investment and trade promotion in Central Asia. The Government will make good use of the existing network of the ETOs, InvestHK and the HKTDC to strengthen economic, trade as well as investment promotion in key Central Asian countries.
The CE is leading a business delegation to visit Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in early June this year in order to further promote economic and trade co-operation and exchanges between Hong Kong and the Central Asian region, establish business networks and connections, and explore emerging markets. It is the largest scale of outbound mission to overseas countries with the largest number of delegates covering the broadest areas of enterprises in this term of Government. The delegation includes 40 representatives from Hong Kong's enterprises/business sector, covering areas such as industry and commerce, finance, legal, construction and engineering, logistics, and innovation and technology. During the visit, there will be visits to local enterprises and facilities, helping Hong Kong enterprises/business representatives understand Central Asia's latest developments in different areas, explore co-operation opportunities, and lay the foundation for long term exchanges.
Apart from the CE-led delegation, the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB) has been enhancing ties with the Central Asian market through various outbound missions and exchanges. Among others, the Belt and Road Office, together with the Ministry of Commerce, led a delegation comprising business representatives from Hong Kong and the Mainland to visit Kazakhstan in May 2024, fostering Hong Kong and the Mainland enterprises to jointly explore new business opportunities in the Belt and Road markets including Central Asia. The delegation included about 30 representatives from local chambers of commerce, professional services, enterprises (including SMEs and startups), covering sectors including finance, construction and engineering, new energy and environmental services, legal, accounting, transport and logistics, and innovation and technology. The Astana International Financial Centre of Kazakhstan also organised a business exchange event in Hong Kong in May 2025, bringing together stakeholders from Kazakhstan and the international financial community to exchange in-depth views on the future of the Central Asian capital markets and regional financial connectivity, and explore co-operation opportunities.
Regarding enterprises going global, the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global (GoGlobal Task Force), steered by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, officially launched the cross-sectoral professional services platform GoGlobal Connect in April this year to assist Mainland enterprises already established a foothold in Hong Kong to expand their international businesses in overseas markets (including Central Asia) via Hong Kong. The platform brings together eight groups of Hong Kong professional service providers, including legal, accounting, finance, and testing and certification, and offers professional, customised consultancy services to Mainland enterprises seeking overseas expansion, helping them better understand business opportunities in the Central Asian market while enriching the ecosystem of the professional services sector in Hong Kong. The aforesaid delegation to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is the first outbound mission led by the CE since the establishment of the GoGlobal Task Force.
At the same time, the CEDB has set up the functional platform of Economic and Trade Express to strengthen trio-coordination among the ETOs, InvestHK and the HKTDC in proactively organising overseas business missions for local SMEs and start-ups to assist Hong Kong enterprises in exploring business opportunities, while facilitating more enterprises to invest and establish operations in Hong Kong.
To further expand Hong Kong's "circle of friends" in trade and economy and promote the long-term economic development of Hong Kong, the Government have been actively seeking to co-operate with trading partners, including economies with strong economic and trade connections with Hong Kong as well as those with development potential or at strategic locations. The Government will expand Hong Kong's international economic and trade networks through forging free trade agreements (FTAs) as well as investment promotion and protection agreements (IPPAs) with these economies. Hong Kong has so far signed nine FTAs with 21 economies, covering most of Hong Kong's major trading partners. In addition, Hong Kong has signed 24 IPPAs with 33 overseas economies. The Government will continue to proactively explore FTAs and IPPAs with other economies including Central Asian countries.
On SME support, the Support and Consultation Centre for SMEs under the Trade and Industry Department, the SME Centre under the HKTDC, the SME One under Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and the TecONE under Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation will also continue to provide "four-in-one" integrated services and co-organise "four-in-one" seminar series on themes such as exploration of emerging markets in order to assist SMEs in exploring emerging markets. Moreover, the SME ReachOut, established by the Government and operated by the HKPC, will continue to help SMEs identify suitable government funding schemes and provide SMEs with capacity building service. The Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD Fund) provides funding support to encourage Hong Kong enterprises through branding, upgrading and restructuring, and develop diversified markets. The geographical scope of the BUD Fund will be expanded to cover 48 economies in June 2026 with Kazakhstan as the newly added one.
Looking ahead, the Government will continue to proactively deepen cooperation with the Belt and Road region, including countries in Central Asia, to assist the Hong Kong business community in seizing the immense business opportunities in the Central Asian region as early as possible.
(2) The Government has been working with the Airport Authority Hong Kong to strategically attract local and non-local airlines to add new destinations and increase flight frequencies through outreach teams, incentive schemes and policy facilitation measures, etc. Meanwhile, the TLB has been actively participating in international civil aviation conferences and taking the initiative to visit aviation partners in Central Asia to discuss the establishment of new air services agreements or the expansion of traffic rights, thereby providing greater flexibility for flight operations and enhancing commercial viability to encourage airlines to launch direct flight services.
The Government is also creating new business opportunities for the logistics industry by developing new markets, including countries along the Belt and Road. The Government note that the logistics industry has been actively developing the Central Asian markets in recent years, and the Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding and Logistics Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Transport of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Kazlogistics, a local logistics trade association. The TLB will continue to join hands with the industry to explore business opportunities in the Central Asian markets, and further promote the development of freight and logistics between Hong Kong and Central Asian markets.
Ends/Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Issued at HKT 12:35
Issued at HKT 12:35
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