Ecns | 8 January 2021

HKSAR gov’t says free trade, investment agreements with ASEAN to come into force in full

by Xinhua

The free trade and investment agreements between Hong Kong and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will come into force in full on Feb. 12 when the part related to Cambodia took effect.

The government of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) said in a statement Friday that the agreements greatly enhance business opportunities in ASEAN markets for Hong Kong enterprises and service providers.

The agreements, which were inked in 2017 and started entering into force since June 2019, have brought about legal certainty and better market access for Hong Kong enterprises, the government said.

The agreements are comprehensive in scope, covering trade in goods and services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, dispute settlement mechanisms.

ASEAN was Hong Kong’s second-largest trading partner in goods trade in 2019 and the fourth largest in services trade in 2018.

Hong Kong has so far signed eight free trade agreements with 20 economies.