On 11 September 2017, H.E. Mr. Virasakdi Futrakul, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, attended the 2nd Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong, organized by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). The event was officiated by the Honourable Mrs. Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, Mr. Ning Jizhe, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and H.E. Mrs. Gao Yan, Vice Minister of Commerce of the PRC.  It was attended by over 3,400 high-level government officials and businessmen and investors from 48 countries.

 

The Deputy Foreign Minister was invited to speak as a panelist in the Summit’s first session on Investing in Belt and Road: Dialogue with Policymakers. Other panellists included H.E. Ms. Justyna Skrydlo, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Construction, the Republic of Poland; and Mr. Edward Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong SAR. The session was moderated by the Honourable Mrs. Laura Cha, Chairman of Financial Services Development Council of Hong Kong. 

 

In his remarks, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs highlighted the importance of Hong Kong SAR as Thailand’s economic partner, investment destination, and gateway into China. He expressed the hope that Hong Kong SAR would open an office of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Thailand. He also emphasized Thailand’s readiness to be Hong Kong’s partner under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), in which Hong Kong could serve as a “buckle” binding together the many economic corridors under the BRI.

 

Referring to the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation within the Framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative between Thailand and China during the recent BRICS Summit in Xiamen, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs highlighted five priority areas of cooperation: infrastructure, industrial cluster, ICT/digital, science, technology and innovation, and energy, adding that both sides would utilize the advantage of Thailand’s geographical location for developing a logistics hub and making use of existing land and maritime connectivity to facilitate better flows of trade and investment between Thailand and China. 

 

The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs also informed the Summit’s participants that in the next 5 – 10 years, Thailand and ASEAN will see massive infrastructure development. In this context, he spoke about Thailand’s infrastructure development plan, including the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) as well as connectivity-related developments at the regional level. In particular, Thailand and the member countries of the Ayeyawady – Chao Phraya – Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) are working together to develop a Master Plan that will prioritize connectivity including infrastructure, digital and human resources development and include establishment of an ACMECS Infrastructure Fund. ASEAN also has the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025 (MPAC 2025). In this regard, with its expertise especially in financial services and logistics, Hong Kong can participate and contribute to these efforts. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs also added that besides Southeast Asia, countries in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) are also respectively in the process of developing their own connectivity plan as well. Underscoring the regional trend of enhancing connectivity, he noted that all these on-going cooperation, once realized, would serve as building blocks of economic cooperation leading towards an emerging economic community in the Indo-Pacific region.

 

During his visit to Hong Kong, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs also met with Mr. Edward Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong SAR Government. The two sides discussed further details on the possibility for Hong Kong to establish an HKETO in Thailand and other matters of mutual interest, following up on the visit to Thailand of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR on 3 – 5 August 2017.