Led by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu and organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), a business delegation has commenced a five-day visit to Central Asia.

HKTDC Chairman Ma Siheng stated that geopolitical dynamics are catalyzing multilateral cooperation, making Hong Kong's role as a "safe haven for capital" and a bridge more critical than ever.

This business mission presents a golden opportunity to showcase Hong Kong's bridging advantages, "turning crisis into opportunity."

The delegation will visit Astana in Kazakhstan and Tashkent in Uzbekistan, meeting with local government departments, major financial institutions, large enterprises, and chamber of commerce leaders.

Business exchange banquets will be held to actively explore investment and cooperation opportunities, promoting Hong Kong's unique strengths as a platform connecting China and the world, and as the optimal "going global" base.

Ma Siheng highlighted three key features of this delegation: it is the largest in terms of participant numbers and scale; it involves the broadest range of industry sectors; and it marks the first such high-level visit to Central Asia, promoting a "hub-to-hub" cooperation model.

Led by the Chief Executive, the focus will be on promoting Hong Kong's unique roles as a "super connector" and "super value-adder," demonstrating that Hong Kong is the preferred gateway for Central Asian enterprises to access the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the mainland Chinese market.

Simultaneously, it is the best platform for mainland enterprises to use Hong Kong and the HKTDC as a base to steadily expand into Central Asian markets.

Following last year's visits to Qatar and Kuwait, this delegation once again brings together the strength of Hong Kong and mainland enterprises.

The delegation comprises 70 business leaders from Hong Kong and the mainland, with mainland representatives from 17 provinces and municipalities.

It covers sectors including financial and professional services, logistics and transportation, innovation and technology, trade, green industries, energy and mining, biomedicine, automotive, and media, collectively seizing opportunities under the Belt and Road Initiative.

In response to the Policy Address's call to assist Hong Kong's local media in developing overseas networks and telling the "Hong Kong story" well, this overseas visit for the first time includes representatives from news industry associations, such as the Hong Kong Newspaper Society and the Hong Kong News Executives' Association.

The aim is to help local Hong Kong media strengthen their overseas networks and explore overseas commercial markets in areas like event planning, brand promotion, and publishing.

The visit will focus on the national development strategies of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, using inspections, institutional visits, high-level meetings, and large-scale promotional events to deeply explore cooperation opportunities in finance, logistics, infrastructure, technology, and green investment.

The expectation is that face-to-face exchanges will facilitate more concrete investment and cooperation projects.