ASEAN signs free trade, investment pacts with Hong Kong (Source: abs-cbn.com) Manila (VNA) – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China’s Hong Kong signed a free trade agreement and a bilateral investment pact on November 12 on the sidelines of the 31st ASEAN Summit and related meetings in Manila, the Philippines.
The pacts, which needed nearly three years of talks, are expected to become effective on January 1, 2018, and help the two sides gain deeper and bolder access to each other’s market and intensify bilateral trade and investment.
Hong Kong Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau said that the agreements will create new business opportunities, and enhance trade and investment flows for Hong Kong businesspeople.
“In the face of protectionist sentiments in other parts of the world, these two agreements are in fact a loud and clear vote from all of us here for freer and more open trade,” Yau said.
Meanwhile, Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez said that they will bring about more job opportunities for the region’s people and businesses, particularly small firms.
ASEAN and Hong Kong began their negotiations on the two pacts in July 2014 and completed them in September 2017.
ASEAN was Hong Kong’s second largest goods trade partner in 2016 and fourth services trade partner in 2015. Meanwhile, Hong Kong was the bloc’s sixth trade partner in 2016, with trade turnover hitting 107 billion USD, accounting for over 4 percent of the bloc’s total trade values.
Hong Kong’s direct investment in ASEAN reached 9.6 billion USD last year, making up 9.9 percent of the total FDI in the bloc.-VNA
VNA
