The global economy’s continuing shift to the East is clearly reflected in the growing significance of ASEAN and its 10 Member States. Blessed with abundant natural wealth, a fast-emerging middle class and a youthful population of some 660 million people, ASEAN is an economic powerhouse – the fifth-largest economy in the world. And, since the regional trade bloc’s beginnings in 1967, founding Member Singapore has played a central role in its rising prosperity and influence.
As a major international financial, business and trade centre, Hong Kong enjoys the singular advantage of being governed under the “one country, two systems” principle. It gives the economy unparalleled, and ever-deepening, connectivity with Mainland China, the world’s second-largest economy and ASEAN’s largest trading partner.
With the ASEAN-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement and Investment Agreement in effect for more than two years now, what strategies should Hong Kong and ASEAN pursue to accelerate regional growth and integration, particularly with the global economy fast recovering in the wake of COVID-19? How can Hong Kong help drive regional development? What, in particular, can it offer the 10 Member States of ASEAN?