Kazakhstan and Hong Kong will increase trade cooperation
Possible options for intensifying trade and economic cooperation were discussed by Minister Arman Shakkaliyev and Hong Kong SAR Head John Lee at the meeting.
«The development of relations with China is one of the important priorities in Kazakhstan's foreign policy. We aim to further deepen our strategic partnership, and attach great importance to the development of cooperation with Hong Kong in the trade, economic and investment spheres. We have created all favorable conditions for investing in the economy of Kazakhstan, including in the field of new technologies, green energy, IT, the launch of new industries. Kazakhstan has a great potential for the production of organically pure products, and we are interested in supplying agricultural and food products to the Hong Kong market», - Arman Shakkaliyev said at the meeting.
Hong Kong is the largest e-commerce market. As the Minister of Trade noted, Kazakhstan is actively engaged in promoting the export of finished products through global marketplaces.
«We have a successful experience of opening a National Pavilion on an international trading platform Alibaba.com , where more than 5,000 Kazakhstani goods are placed. Over the past 3 years, sales on the platform have amounted to more than $ 225 million. In addition, in May, the National Pavilion of Kazakhstan was opened on an electronic platform JD.com. Now we are actively negotiating in the field of e-commerce with major business whales, Genertec, Huawei, XingXing companies. We invite you to cooperate in this direction», - the Minister suggested.
In order to boost tourism, the Kazakh side proposed to resume direct flights and increase the visa-free regime between Kazakhstan and Hong Kong from 14 days to one month. This will make it possible to intensify trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian cooperation.
Following the meeting, Arman Shakkaliyev, on behalf of the Government of Kazakhstan, invited John Lee to visit Kazakhstan.
For reference:
Hong Kong is one of the largest financial and logistics hubs in the world. There are 8978 regional headquarters and representative offices of foreign companies, most of which are focused primarily on doing business with mainland China. There are 182 financial and banking institutions and 42 representative offices of foreign banks registered in Hong Kong, which confirms its status as the most important banking and financial hub in the Asia-Pacific region. The Hong Kong foreign exchange market is the second largest in Asia and the fourth in the world with an average daily turnover of $632.1 billion in foreign exchange transactions.
The Hong Kong stock market ranks 6th in Asia and 9th in the world at $4.1 trillion in terms of market capitalization. There are more than 2601 companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
By the end of 2022, foreign direct investment in the amount of $96.2 million was attracted from Hong Kong (an increase of 8.4% compared to 2021, $88.8 million).
As of August 1, 2023, 119 joint ventures with Hong Kong capital were registered, operating -100.
The trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Hong Kong in January-July 2023 amounted to 45.9 million US dollars, which is 59.7% higher than in the same period of the previous year (28.7 million US dollars). Exports from Kazakhstan to Hong Kong in January-July 2023 increased by 31% and amounted to 26.7 million US dollars. The trade turnover between Kazakhstan and Hong Kong in 2022 amounted to 51.8 million US dollars, which is 91% higher than in the same period of the previous year (27.1 million US dollars).