Hong Kong should develop new markets in Africa and South America as it faces obstacles in its traditional ones in Europe and North America, the head of the city鈥檚 trade promotion body has said.
Trade Development Council chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang also said on Saturday that the city had to increase the size of its exhibition venues, noting that a 鈥渓ack of space鈥 was Hong Kong鈥檚 biggest disadvantage compared with different regions.
Ma said that he expected Hong Kong鈥檚 exports in the second half of the year to be weaker than in the first six months amid the ongoing Sino-US trade war.
He said the council would focus on exploring new markets by visiting Asean countries, notably Indonesia while also looking at expanding African ones
鈥淩ight now we are facing a lot of resistance from our traditional markets in Europe and North America, so we must develop new markets,鈥 he said.
Ma, who took office on June 1, said Hong Kong was quite familiar with Africa, even though it might seem like a new market.
鈥淗ong Kong people have a very long history of doing business in Africa, especially those in the textiles sector, where they will have factories in Africa,鈥 he said.
Ma pointed to the large populations in African countries, where there was a high likelihood of a growing middle class, adding that mainland China had earlier removed tariffs on nearly all goods from the continent.
He also said South America was full of business potential with its large population, noting that Hong Kong had signed a free-trade agreement with Peru last year.
Many South American countries were also aware of Asia as a lot of their products were being exported there, he added.
Hong Kong has pushed to develop new markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia in recent years amid the geopolitical tensions, with city leader John Lee Ka-chiu leading a delegation to Qatar and Kuwait in May with the aim of driving more business and people-to-people ties with the Gulf countries.
The trip resulted in the signing of 59 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) 鈥 35 in Qatar and 24 in Kuwait 鈥 covering trade, investment promotion, financial services, aviation, tertiary education, legal services and more.
The visit was Lee鈥檚 second to the region since 2023, with Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates his previous stops. Lee also visited Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam last year to promote the city and explore new business opportunities.
Ma, meanwhile, said that Hong Kong鈥檚 biggest disadvantage in hosting conventions and exhibitions compared with other regions was the small size of its venues.
鈥淔or instance, in terms of conventions and exhibitions, our venues are smaller compared with some places like Guangzhou,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e need to consider how to develop further and find the space to make our exhibition venues even larger.鈥
Ma said the sector was important to Hong Kong as it could not only bring together buyers and sellers, but also attract people to the city and spend.
Hong Kong is set to welcome about 170,000 visitors on the back of at least 56 events the Tourism Board has helped to put on the city鈥檚 calendar this year in the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) sector.
Separately, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu likened the city鈥檚 current development to a butterfly bursting out of its cocoon as he reflected on his three years in office.
鈥淲e must proactively break through the cocoon or the current situation, so we can help residents solve the problems that they are concerned with the most and that Hong Kong can become much better,鈥 he said in a video posted on Facebook.
He added that the city should also see the opportunities that it had while keeping an eye on the challenges it faced.