HK eyes business ties with Brunei

THE Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) has shown interest in developing closer business ties with Brunei Darussalam.

Subrina Chow, director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office based in Singapore, said her office was exploring various industries in which ties between the two countries could be pursued.

"We were here last March, where we met with people from the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources (MIPR) and (heard) a briefing on the industries that Brunei is planning to develop," said Chow. Some of the developments that were presented to her delegation included the development of halal products, which includes processing and eco-tourism and the oil and gas industry in Brunei, she said.

From the presentation, Chow and her delegation observed that Brunei was intent diversifying its economy into industries that will be able to complement the oil and gas sector, she added. One expertise that Hong Kong has offered was to help with the development of financial services in Brunei.

"I think in Hong Kong, we do see that in order to maintain and grow our position as an international financial centre, we have to strengthen our networks with this region (Southeast Asia) as well," she said. Hong Kong has built a lot of links with the United States and the Western markets, as well as cooperation with the Shanghai and Shenzen stock exchange and central bank or China. she added.

"We should also have more cooperation with the financial institutes over here, so that we would be able to have more cooperation from this region who can make use of the financial services in Hong Kong," she said.

Asked about Islamic finance and the possibility of bringing it to Hong Kong, Chow said, "Hong Kong is a newcomer in Islamic finance." It is a country that is different from others in Southeast Asia because of its lack of a sizeable Muslim population. "We do have a Muslim population, where it is a very small group, so it has never occurred to our banks that we should have Islamic banking or Islamic finance in Hong Kong," she said.

Chow added that while Hong Kong was still new to the Islamic bond market, it was already a mature capital market, and that Hong Kong could get involved with Islamic bonds or insurance. "Right now we already have Islamic bonds, which are issued in Hong Kong, and it started a few years ago, but we're trying to see if we can further increase the volume and diversify the kind of products that are available in Hong Kong," she added.

Chow said that the business relationship between Brunei and Hong Kong would be mutually beneficial as Hong Kong currently has one of the freest economies in the world, where businesses as well as the financial sector have developed a simple system to welcome outside businesses to build their presence in there with ease.

"One thing in particular that we can see is for Brunei to make use of the Hong Kong capital investments," she said, explaining that last year, Hong Kong raised the largest funds through IPO (initial public offering), in the form of common stocks or shares. She added that anyone could go to Hong Kong and list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and use the platform to raise capital.

"In the past we have closer ties with places like Singapore, where we are based, as well as Malaysia and Thailand, because these three countries are among our largest trading partners. Over the past years we have started to pay more attention to places like Vietnam and in the coming few years, Brunei and Indonesia," she said.

The Brunei Times