MANILA, Philippines — Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China (HKSAR), continues to assure the Philippine government that it is committed to building a strong economic partnership, even as recent world events threaten to disrupt what has so far been a harmonious relationship.
At a recent Chinese New Year and business seminar hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) at the Grand Hyatt in BGC, its director-general Libera Cheng expressed Hong Kong’s desire to maintain a friendly and mutually beneficial relationship with the Philippines in the face of current global developments.
In her welcome remarks, Cheng pointed out the Chinese Zodiac calendar year of 2025 is a snake year, which represents agility and wisdom in Chinese culture.
Thus, she said, “Despite evolving global environments, building a strong partnership with the Philippines remains our steadfast goal. This is especially important now, as we see some world leader making use of trade as a weapon to benefit its own people, which affects the world supply chain and suppresses the development of other countries.”
HKSAR, Cheng made clear, is “seeking early accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)” and that joining the multilateral trade group is “top on its agenda.”
Additionally, she said, “to sustain the momentum of the ASEAN-Hong Kong Free Trade and Investment Agreement already in place, we will also strive to forge bilateral deals with the Philippines, including but not limited to tax facilitation, to give economic and trade activities a further boost.”
Cheng cited the fact that trade ties with the Philippines “continued to be robust.” Last year, she said, bilateral trade in goods amounted to $13.9 billion, representing an annual average growth of 2.3 percent since 2020.Thus, for 2024, HKSAR was the Philippines’ fifth largest trading partner and the third largest export market.
Cheng further pointed out that high-level exchanges remained very active last year, with HKSAR welcoming in April 2024 Philippine Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan Uy during the InnoEx Event, while senior officials from the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Industry also visited the city.
On the reciprocal side, Cheng said, HKSAR officials from its health and civil aviation departments visited Manila and Cebu to take part in international events, “reflecting the global relevance of the Philippines in the relevant fields.”
The HKETO director-general also cited the fact that the Philippines continues to be the largest source of visitors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN, with close to 1.2 million Filipinos visiting Hong Kong in 2024.
Flight connectivity between the Philippines and Hong Kong, she said, has grown substantially, with HKSAR-based carriers HK Express launching in June last year services to Clark, and Cathay Pacific adding more flights to its HK-Cebu route, and adding new routes to Iloilo and Davao.
As such, she said, the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is now connected to five Philippine destinations, “rendering us one of the most important gateways to the Philippines. With our third runway system fully operational last November, there is only more room for growth.”
The business seminar event of HKETO was focused on financial technology or fintech and logistics – two growth areas which Cheng acknowledged as “fundamental to our region’s economic future, as the broader use of fintech and better logistical chain will enhance connectivity and inclusivity within ASEAN and the world.”
HKSAR, Cheng said, had also announced an enhancement to their dedicated fund on branding, upgrading and domestic sales, supporting Hong Kong’s small and medium enterprises to allow them to expand their e-commerce business to ASEAN countries, including to the Philippines. In fact, it was revealed, HKETO plans to bring the Hong Kong Shopping Festival to ASEAN in due course, which would allow Hong Kong SMEs to tap into the region’s vast e-commerce sales market.
She elaborated that Hong Kong has “set a clear goal for our city to develop into a high-value added supply chain service center” that Philippine companies may tap, as well as HKSAR’s logistics facilities such as the HKIA which is the world’s busiest cargo airport, “to diversify and consolidate your supply chains.”
The HKIA, she added, had previously unveiled its ambitious airport city initiative called Skytopia. There are plans to construct world-class airport gold storage facilities so that Hong Kong can develop into an international gold trading center that can facilitate gold trading and storage for businessmen, with the city even extending policy incentives such as tax reductions for liquor trading.
However, recent tariff impositions by the new Trump administration against China and its threat to its coalition trade partners to administer corresponding tariffs on their own exports to the US that may contain or use China-made components has shaken up the global supply chain.
Just last week, a trilateral dialogue among Japan, the Philippines and Australia discussed the widening trade upheaval that has been described as a politicized and weaponized move, which also smacks of economic coercion.
At the same time, the trilateral dialogue also highlighted the fact that reliance on globalization has also caused a dangerous dependence and dominance on countries that have become manufacturing giants, exposing the other nations malaise at not having addressed their own economic security, leaving them vulnerable and exposed to the new trade ballgame that is evolving, complete with new rules.
Thus, Japan, the Philippines and Australia are now hoping to discuss further how to deal with the evolving trade picture and how they can support, learn and exchange information on a range of common concerns – from economic to maritime concerns.
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