Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the South China Morning Post GBA-Asean Summit 2026 today (June 30):

Your Excellency Deputy Prime Minister Francisco Kalbuadi Lay (Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister for Tourism and Environment of Timor-Leste), Your Excellency Secretary Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Roque (Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines), Ms Tammy Tam (Publisher of the South China Morning Post), Dr Daryl Ng (Chairman of the Hong Kong-ASEAN Foundation), Consuls-General and officials from around the world, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, 

     Good morning. It is a great pleasure to join you today for the Greater Bay Area-ASEAN Summit.

     I understand some 300 of you are here for the two-day gathering – from Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland and throughout the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region, not counting those who are watching online.

     Hong Kong shares a strong and long-standing partnership with ASEAN.  Indeed, ASEAN has been our second-largest merchandise trading partner for the past 16 years in a row. Last year, our bilateral trade in goods grew an impressive 29 per cent, year on year, reaching US$ 214 billion.

     Our services trade is also rising, with trade up 10 per cent, to US$ 20 billion, in 2024. That makes ASEAN our third-largest trading partner in services.

     Our investment ties are equally buoyant. Since the signing of the ASEAN-Hong Kong, China Free Trade Agreement and Investment Agreement almost ten years ago, Hong Kong's outward investment into ASEAN has soared, up 54 per cent, more than half.

     Our people-to-people ties are flourishing alongside the increased trade and investment flows. 

     Since taking office in 2022, I have led three high-level missions to ASEAN – there to build even stronger ties, and open wider our welcome doors.  

     Last December, we opened our fourth Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in the ASEAN region – in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

     And we are ready to bring our relationship to the next high level through accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world's largest free trade bloc.

     I look keenly forward to RCEP's next major milestone – setting up the Accession Working Group for Hong Kong – as soon as possible.

     I take the opportunity to appeal for the continuing support of ASEAN leaders, and stakeholders here today, to help champion Hong Kong's accession to RCEP.

     Hong Kong's goal, as always, is to create connections, and to add value to your companies, your investors and your economies. We believe, after all, in mutual growth over unilateralism.

     With Hong Kong's world-class professional service sector, we add value to things we do, people we work with.

     Hong Kong is the only common law jurisdiction in China, our country. We offer a highly open, transparent and international business environment.  

     Our simple tax system, free flow of capital, goods, information and people, together with robust intellectual property protection, make Hong Kong an ideal partner for ASEAN – and the world at large.

     The business community clearly shares this confidence. Last year, the number of companies with overseas and Mainland parent companies registered in Hong Kong reached a record high of more than 11 000.

     Hong Kong is the world's No.1 in economic freedom, and ranked second, globally, in the World Competitiveness Yearbook. We are also the world's largest cross-boundary wealth management centre, and third-largest global financial centre. And despite the protracted global trade turbulence, Hong Kong has become the world's fifth-largest merchandise trade entity, ranking third, globally, in attracting foreign direct investment.

     It helps that CEPA, the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, provides preferential access to the Mainland market – and not just for Hong Kong suppliers, but for international companies with offices here in our city as well.  

     That includes ASEAN companies. And the good news is that some 830 ASEAN companies operate in Hong Kong last year. That's a 13 per cent growth from the year before. They're here, no doubt, to take full advantage of Hong Kong's unique advantages to access the Mainland market, the Greater Bay Area included.

     The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is an integrated cluster of 11 cities that counts a population of more than 88 million people, and a combined GDP similar to the world's 10th largest economy.

     The innovation cluster formed by the three Greater Bay Area cities of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou ranks first among the world's top 100 innovation clusters.

     That reflects Hong Kong's proven ability to turn ideas into tangible outcomes, bringing together the complementary strengths of the Mainland and our city. In fintech, smart city solutions, digital infrastructure and, crucially, win-win co-operation, we have expertise to share with ASEAN.

     The Northern Metropolis, which takes up one-third of the geographical area of Hong Kong, is our strategic development area adjacent to Shenzhen. It is now being fast-tracked as a new economic engine for Hong Kong, and a world-class innovation, technology and higher education hub. No less strategically important, it will rise as a critical connection to the Greater Bay Area.

     I invite ASEAN companies to invest in the Northern Metropolis, to capture the far-reaching opportunities opening up right here in Hong Kong.

     Hong Kong also supports the expansion of Chinese Mainland companies to promising overseas markets like ASEAN.

     To that end, we established the the GoGlobal Task Force last year. It offers Mainland enterprises one-stop, customised services, from legal and financial services, to testing, certification and much more. I am confident it will create unlimited opportunities for Hong Kong, as well as ASEAN.

     This brings us to the heart of today's Summit: the promise of collaboration between two of the world's most dynamic economic engines: ASEAN and the Greater Bay Area.

     Together, the two regions have what it takes to form a powerful and complementary partnership, one offering distinct advantages, in the troubled waters of everchanging geopolitics. 

     Both ASEAN and the Greater Bay Area are, after all, ocean-facing. Our economies sail the same waters, our ambitions ride the same waves, and our prosperity could rise with the same currents.

     Hong Kong, long a free port, is uniquely positioned to connect the two economic powerhouses. We can enable the smooth flow of trade, investment and innovation, creating opportunities to reward both regions.

     Ladies and gentlemen, this year marks the beginning of our country's 15th Five-Year Plan. With its support, Hong Kong will play an even more active role as a high-level conduit for a world of investors.

     Hong Kong is now drawing up its first-ever Five-Year Plan. It will be a strategic blueprint that maps out Hong Kong's vision for the next five years and long beyond. That very much includes deepening our regional co-operation with ASEAN, as well as other Belt and Road economies, through our unique positioning in the Greater Bay Area. 

     A public consultation for Hong Kong's Five-Year Plan is underway. We have also launched, yesterday, a public consultation on my annual Policy Address. The Policy Address sets out our policy agenda for the year, and will include specific targets in realising the vision set out in our first Five-Year Plan. We are running the consultation exercises in parallel, and we welcome views from members of the public on either or both of these important policy documents for Hong Kong's vibrant future.

     My thanks to the South China Morning Post for organising today's Summit, a most welcome opportunity to build enduring partnerships. 

     I also take the opportunity to congratulate the ASEAN Chamber of Commerce (Hong Kong), which will be officially launched in a moment. I am confident that the Chamber will build on the close ties between Hong Kong and ASEAN, and help to promote our trade and people-to-people ties.

     Ladies and gentlemen, the tide is rising for both the Greater Bay Area and ASEAN. Let's set sail for our common prosperity together.

     On that note, I wish you the best of business at the Greater Bay Area-ASEAN Summit, and an enjoyable stay in Hong Kong, the world's fast-rising, East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange. 

     Thank you.

Ends/Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Issued at HKT 10:19

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