Hong Kong hopes to seal FTA with Asean countries

PETALING JAYA: Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying hopes to seal Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with all the member countries of Asean to facilitate further trade and services in the region.

He said Hong Kong’s position as the gateway to mainland China placed it in a unique position and that they hoped to complete the negotiations by next year.

“It’s like one country with two systems. Hong Kong is not the same as Beijing and is in a good position to host companies that are not used to the work practices in mainland China,” he said.

He said that of the estimated US$100bil (RM357bil) in trade between Asean and China annually, some 12% were routed through Hong Kong.

Leung also said that some 7,600 global companies located their China office in Hong Kong because of the ease in understanding the laws and the financial system.

On the proposed new regulations for the election of Hong Kong’s next chief executive that is to take place in 2017, Leung said that they were short of getting the required support for the proposals to be approved.

“The proposal needs two-third approval from the Legislative Council and we are still five short from the total 70 members,” he said. “We have to work on getting the required support.”

The new regulations, unveiled two days ago, allow up to three candidates to vie for the chief executive’s post. But the candidates must first get through a nomination committee comprising 1,200 members.

The opposition’s gripe is that under the proposed system, the candidate must secure at least 600 votes from the nomination committee before they go forward for a final public voting. The opposition claims that this would eliminate chances of the pro-democracy candidates from contesting.

In August last year, pro-democracy protestors took to the streets and brought Hong Kong to a standstill for nearly two months over the proposed new legislations to elect the chief executive.