The Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (Asean) Secretary-General, Kao Kim Hourn, on Wednesday said Hong Kong has been the champion of the Belt and Road Initiative.

Kao’s praise for the SAR came as he noted a number of officials from Asean member states had been participating in Belt and Road summits in Hong Kong over the years.

Speaking at an interview for this year’s summit, Kao said the annual event serves as an important platform that gathers different stakeholders, and calls for talks on new areas of collaboration.

“Let us look at what are the potential areas of cooperation that have not been materialised yet,” he said.

“I think we should look at, first of all, into the existing areas of cooperation that we have not been able to maximise yet. We should do that.

“And then new areas where we have not done so, particularly in the digital sector, for example, which is significant.”

Meanwhile, Kao said Asean supports Hong Kong in joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.


Edited by Aaron Tam