(1 April 2017)

Sina – On 1 Apr 2017, Dr Jonathan Choi led the Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC) delegation with over ten people, who attended the Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Conference in Cairo, Egypt. CGCC is one of the founding organizations of the Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Alliance. The Conference was organized by the China Federation of Industrial Economics and Egyptian Businessmen’s Association.

       Dr Jonathan Choi delivered his speech at the Conference

As the co-chair of the Alliance, Dr Jonathan Choi, Chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said in his speech that the Conference highlighted Hong Kong’s important position at the Belt and Road strategy and he stressed that Hong Kong and Egypt played as important hubs in this strategy.

He pointed out that Hong Kong is China’s most open and cosmopolitan city. Hong Kong has been ranked the world’s freest economy for 23 consecutive years. It has strong advantages in finance, trade and shipping, modern service industry and other fields. Moreover, its rich experiences in international trade not only will help promote cooperation of mainland China and Hong Kong enterprises with other countries and regions but also help overseas companies to invest in mainland China. “Egypt has a privileged location at the junction of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe,” he said. “Hong Kong can become the best business partner of Egypt by enhancing bilateral cooperation and taking unique advantages of both sides. There are many huge opportunities for China and Egypt to cooperate to make greater contributions to our economic and trade development.”

Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Mr Song Aiguo said that the Conference is a good start as a positive role model to promote the “Belt and Road” Initiative cooperation. He pointed out that the two countries, through joint efforts, have achieved a harvest in the “Belt and Road” capacity cooperation. He believed that the two sides will strengthen pragmatic cooperation and deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership to achieve common development.

Dr Jonathan Choi met with Ambassador Song Aiguo in Cairo

The first round of Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Conference

The conference was the first event gathering all the founding organizations since the establishment of the Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Alliance. Attended the Conference were Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Mr Song Aiguo, General Secretary of Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Alliance Mr Xiong Meng, Egyptian Businessmen’s Association Executive Director Mr Mohammed Yousaf and more than 300 political and business representatives.

The 2-day conference focused on investment of Chinese enterprises in Egypt, the economic development prospects and investment areas as well as opportunities for cooperation among China, Egypt and Africa to promote bilateral, multilateral economic and trade development and production cooperation. The conference also had group discussions on various topics, such as the Suez Canal Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, infrastructure construction, industrial park investment, e-commerce, transportation and logistics, banking and financial industry and other issues.

Members of the Alliance from Brazil, Germany, Denmark, India, Russia, Ukraine, Pakistan, Romania, China Hong Kong, Turkey, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Jordan, Algeria and other countries and regions also attended the meeting.

Dr Jonathan Choi led the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce delegation to attend the Conference

Launched by the China Federation of Industrial Economics, the Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Alliance was established in June 2016. There are 25 chambers of commerce or industrial and commercial organizations from Asia, Europe, Africa and the America joining the Alliance. The Hong Kong Chinese General Chamber of Commerce is one of the founding members of the Alliance. The Alliance aims to promote industrial investment, economic and trade cooperation among Belt and Road related countries and regions, and to actively build the international platform to achieve information interoperability, to provide a wide range of services and support for economic and trade cooperation among members of the Alliance.

Translated from: Sina