Chinese investors seek Belt and Road partners in Thailand

A Hong Kong-Shanghai joint infrastructure investment delegation visited Bangkok this week to discuss cooperation and investment opportunities driven by growing intra-regional cooperation in Asia, especially under China's Belt and Road Initiative.
The delegation, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), comprised some 40 investors and services professionals from Hong Kong and Shanghai with interest and expertise in finance, consultancy, architecture, energy, waste and water treatment, engineering and construction, legal and accounting, transportation as well as other sectors.
During the May 8-9 visit, the delegation met with Thai government and business leaders to promote closer infrastructure development partnerships involving Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and Thailand.
Speaking to Thai project owners at a May 9 seminar entitled “Hong Kong and Shanghai: Your Infrastructure Investment Partner”, HKTDC chairman Vincent HS Lo said the driving forces behind the three-way partnership between Hong Kong, Shanghai and Thailand were the Belt and Road Initiative and Thailand’s national development policies.
“Hong Kong and Thailand have a long trading relationship, and now we are working on new initiatives,” said Lo. “With Thailand’s plan for development well in place, it is excellent timing for us to reach out to you and find suitable and financially viable projects.”
“Thailand is an important participant in the Belt and Road Initiative, which offers opportunities we have not seen before,” said Zhou Yajun, deputy director general, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and an adviser to the delegation. “Shanghai has a lot of enterprises with strong experience in infrastructure, finance and the services industry. We have come here to learn, to develop partnerships and to make friends,”
During the seminar, Hong Kong and Shanghai delegates representing the investment, financial and professional services sectors and Thai project owners including the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) and the Thai Contractors Association (TCA) exchanged views and identified areas for cooperation in infrastructure investment.