Chief Executive John Lee will lead a delegation to visit three member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN - Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

As part of the delegation, Federation of Hong Kong Industries Chairman Steve Chuang hopes to take the opportunity to promote Hong Kong’s strengths as an international financial centre as well as learn more about the business prospects across emerging markets.

Mr Chuang highlighted the advantage of ASEAN countries as production bases, noting that with its young population, strong purchasing power, thriving startups and innovation and technology industries, ASEAN is a promising emerging market.

“We can surely share our technologies, our manufacturing skills - typically the advanced manufacturing skills - to these countries. And we are not only looking to produce products from these countries, we are also looking to explore the local market.”

Mr Chuang cited a survey conducted by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries this year, which found that out of 120 surveyed member companies, approximately 45% are operating in ASEAN countries. Among them, 61% are operating in Vietnam, 10% in Cambodia and 1% in Laos.

He noted that among the Hong Kong businesses operating in ASEAN, 17% provide professional services, demonstrating that ASEAN is a significant destination for the export of professional services from Hong Kong.

“They could be product design, legal services, taxation services or arbitration services. That really reflects Hong Kong as an international arbitration centre, international innovation and technology centre, and Hong Kong as an international financial centre for funding support.”

The federation’s ASEAN Chapter established its first office in Vietnam this year to support Hong Kong businesses. Mr Chuang said the office has been in operation for several months and has received an enthusiastic response.

“The Hong Kong companies or investors in ASEAN are hungry for local legal services or they want to know more about the investment opportunities or industrial parks in which they can do the manufacturing. Very often for newcomers, they ask us to refer the human resources like financial managers or human resources managers.”

Mr Chuang also hoped the Chief Executive’s visit could garner ASEAN support for Hong Kong to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership as soon as possible.