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Chief Executive CY Leung
In the 10 years between 2004 and 2014, the GDP contributed by professional services grew by an average rate of 8.7% annually. Today, in terms of its contribution to Hong Kong's total GDP, professional services ranks with tourism. Over the past 14 years or so, we have managed to establish a strong foothold in the Mainland - which is nowadays undoubtedly the biggest overseas market for Hong Kong professional services. And the trend is promising. According to the National Development & Reform Commission, last year, our trade in services with Guangdong Province - including legal and financial services, accounting and architecture - increased by 40% on the previous year.
Going forward, we need another engine. That engine is the Belt & Road Initiative.
Covering 4.4 billion people in some 60-plus countries, and accounting for over 30% of global economic value, the Belt & Road will surely create huge, and fresh, opportunities. Last year, the Mainland of China's direct investment in Belt & Road countries amounted to US$14.5 billion. The expansion of trade, investment and infrastructure building along the Belt & Road will surely lead to a rise in demand for legal services - contract negotiation, contract management and dispute resolution, among others. There is no question of Hong Kong sitting on its hands and letting these business opportunities pass.
The question is how we grab these opportunities, not just today and tomorrow, but also in the coming decades. The question is how we leverage Hong Kong's obvious and unique advantages.
Our advantages are, indeed, obvious and unique under the "one country, two systems" arrangement. Under "one country", we are part of China and enjoy the "China advantage". Our services, including legal services, enjoy preferential access to the Mainland market under CEPA - the Mainland & Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement. After 14 years of CEPA, Hong Kong professional services across the board are well known to clients in the Mainland - for our expertise, for our independence, and more importantly for our professional conduct and ethics.
Under "two systems", we practise, so to speak, "the other system" that is different from that of Mainland cities - a separate economic and social system - and are a highly international society. And the international community is familiar with our legal system and our common law.
In short, our combined advantages under "one country, two systems", our trilingual ability and our international network make us an ideal partner in legal services for both the Mainland Chinese and international companies. We can help foreign enterprises grow into the Mainland market, and partner with Mainland Chinese firms in expanding into foreign markets, including those along the Belt & Road.
And that is why we are building a legal and dispute resolution services centre here in Hong Kong, for the Asia-Pacific, and for the Belt & Road.
The Hong Kong Government is fully behind our professionals, lawyers included. The Secretary for Justice has been promoting Hong Kong's legal and dispute resolution services around the world, visiting such countries as South Korea, Australia, Thailand and Dubai, among others. The $200 million Professional Services Advancement Support Scheme, PASS, announced in my 2016 Policy Address and launched last November, supports Hong Kong professionals in enhancing exchanges and co-operation with their counterparts outside Hong Kong.
The dedicated Belt & Road Office, set up last year to map out strategies and policy initiatives under the Belt & Road, is helping our companies and professionals in reaching out. The Belt & Road website is now up and running, and a compendium is being distributed. You will find there the many footprints of Hong Kong professionals and enterprises in the Belt & Road countries already. In other words, in many of these nascent markets, when you venture out, you will not be alone.
At the same time, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's Infrastructure Financing Facilitation Office, also set up last year, has helped companies invest in infrastructure projects. The office now counts some 60 members, from financial agencies, banks, investors, law firms to insurance companies.
I take heart from the Central Authorities' support for Hong Kong - including our professional services - in participating in the Belt & Road Initiative.
When Mr Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, attended the Belt & Road Summit in Hong Kong last May, he highlighted Hong Kong's advantages in professional services - law, accounting, financial services, engineering, consultancy, and others. The Chairman said that, and I quote, "We support Hong Kong's efforts to build a centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific, in order to provide legal and arbitration services to the Belt & Road." Unquote.
So Hong Kong's legal profession - all of you here today - are critical to creating the "connectivity, convergence and collaboration" essential to the success of the Belt & Road. On connectivity, we are the super-connector between the rest of China and the Belt & Road countries. On convergence, we are at the forefront. And on collaboration, particularly international collaboration, we are second to none as we are the freest economy in the world, for 23 years in a row.
Before I close, let me just add that a strategic point of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is, in fact, rather close to home, and this is the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area.
This March, Premier Li Keqiang announced in the Hong Kong and Macau section of the Central Government's work report the launch of a joint study to prepare a development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area. This region, an important hinterland for Hong Kong, encompasses 11 cities and a total population of 66 million. Last month, I led a large delegation to visit Guangzhou, the provincial capital, and the five cities in the western part of the Pearl River Delta region. I was deeply impressed by their rapid developments.
Hong Kong clearly stands out among all the Bay Area cities when it comes to legal services.
Last month, I met with the Law Society at Government House on how the Government can better support the legal profession in reaching out - to work with Bay Area enterprises and the Belt & Road countries. This is work in progress. The Government and I very much welcome your input going forward.
Chief Executive CY Leung gave these remarks at the Belt & Road Conference opening ceremony on May 12.
