Finance Minister seeks joint ventures, listings in Hong Kong

January 14, 2025 (MLN): Pakistan is looking to expand its economic ties with Hong Kong by exploring more joint ventures and secondary listings for its firms in the city.

This announcement comes ahead of a scheduled meeting between Pakistan's Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Hong Kong's Chief Executive, John Lee Ka-chiu.

In an exclusive interview with the Post, FM mentioned that he would express his interest to Lee regarding the possibility of a Hong Kong delegation visiting Pakistan to explore areas for closer collaboration.

The Pakistani minister is in Hong Kong for the two-day Asian Financial Forum, according to the press release.

According to Aurangzeb, a key focus of his meeting with the city leader was to explore opportunities for Pakistani companies to list in Hong Kong.

“If there is an opportunity for companies out of Pakistan, as joint ventures with local companies, to come in and do primary and secondary listings in the Hong Kong stock exchange, for instance, I think it can be a real win-win, not only in terms of the investment that we expect back in Pakistan, but also outward investment,” he said.

Aurangzeb said Pakistani companies and banks had traditionally opted for secondary listings on the London Stock Exchange.

He noted that local firms had not been aware of Hong Kong’s reputation for international capital raising.

“I would say that Hong Kong can certainly do more in promoting itself as a destination for companies to raise capital,” he added.

Aurangzeb, who assumed office in March last year, also expressed his hope to update Lee on his country's efforts towards economic revival and achieving macroeconomic stability.

In 2023, Pakistan came close to default as its economy struggled amidst political chaos following the catastrophic 2022 monsoon floods.

The country also faced decades of mismanagement and a global economic downturn.

The country narrowly avoided a crisis through last-minute loans from friendly countries, along with an IMF rescue package.

However, it continues to grapple with severe financial challenges, including high inflation and staggering public debts.

Last month, the country’s consumer inflation rate slowed to 4.1% year on year, the lowest in over six years.

In the previous year, the figure was 29.7%.

Aurangzeb said he hoped to encourage Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po and city leader Lee to initiate a dialogue.

He suggested sending delegations to Pakistan to explore sectors that could bring benefits to Hong Kong.

“Seeing is believing, that is the only way,” he said.

“So, I want to make a request to the chief executive to see if he can send a delegation … this is a start and hopefully during the course of this year, we can make progress on this front.”

Security remains a concern for Pakistan in building better economic and business ties with Hong Kong, particularly considering targeted attacks towards Chinese citizens and investments in the country.

In October, a deadly attack outside Jinnah International Airport in Karachi killed two Chinese workers.

The Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a series of attempts by the group to target Chinese interests in the region.

Hong Kong’s government cited the incident in its red outbound travel alert for Pakistan, which it has maintained since 2014.

The warning is the second-highest alert under its three-tier system, advising residents to adjust their travel plans or avoid non-essential trips to the country in question.

In a previous interview with the Post, Khalil Hashmi, the Pakistani ambassador to China, stated that it was time for Hong Kong to conduct a “serious review” of the travel warning, noting that the context had changed over the past decade.

Aurangzeb said security was a “big priority” for his country and he wanted to assure investors, including those from the mainland and Hong Kong, that the issue was being addressed at the “highest level”.

He added that he had always encouraged people to visit Pakistan, so they could see what conditions were really like for themselves.

“My view would be ‘come and have a look’ and see what the situation on the ground is actually,” he said.

“We are having international conferences, we have people visiting us, we had several dignitaries visiting us from various countries”, he said,

He further mentioned that we have the president of Indonesia arriving in Pakistan for a three-day visit with his whole investment team towards the end of the month.

He added: “I do think there is a security issue, but not to the extent that you do not feel safe to travel to Pakistan.”

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