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ASEAN, Hong Kong revise investment pact to strengthen protection

The protocol provides for fair treatment of businesses, free movement of investment capital and profits, and compensation for losses caused by war, conflict or other circumstances. It is expected to strengthen legal protection, improve the investment environment and encourage greater investment flows.

Hong Kong (VNA) – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China have signed the First Protocol to Amend the ASEAN–Hong Kong Investment Agreement (AHKIA), activating provisions on fair treatment, expanded benefits and compensation to further promote investment cooperation.

The protocol was signed in Manila, the Philippines, on September 20 by Philippine Secretary of Trade and Industry Cristina A. Roque, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Suphajee Suthumpun, and Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong Bernard Chan, on the sidelines of the 10th ASEAN Economic Ministers–Hong Kong Consultation.

The protocol provides for fair treatment of businesses, free movement of investment capital and profits, and compensation for losses caused by war, conflict or other circumstances. It is expected to strengthen legal protection, improve the investment environment and encourage greater investment flows.

According to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of Hong Kong (CEDB), ASEAN has been among Hong Kong's major investment partners and the world's third-largest destination for the Chinese region's outward direct investment over the past four years, with total investment exceeding 671 billion HKD (85.5 billion USD).

Hong Kong and 10 ASEAN member states, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, will implement the amended protocol first, with its application to later extend to Timor-Leste, the 11th member of the bloc.

Hong Kong is currently Vietnam's fifth-largest foreign investor, with more than 38 billion USD in registered capital across around 2,200 projects, mainly in manufacturing and processing, real estate and energy infrastructure./.

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