Hong Kong firms could look to Kazakhstan as a base for advanced manufacturing and as a gateway to Europe, while the city’s robust capital markets could attract businesses in the Central Asian country, a diplomat and business adviser has said.
Sabr Yessimbekov, adviser to the chairman of the presidium of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, told the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of the inaugural China Conference: Central Asia 2026 that some projects in MOUs signed during Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s trip to Kazakhstan in June had already got under way.
“We are talking about processing of raw materials and industrial production. There are some companies from Hong Kong and they have already started investing,” he said on Monday.
The firms included tungsten miner Jiaxin International Resources, which became the first company to be dual-listed on Hong Kong and Astana’s bourses last year.
In June, Lee led a 70-strong business and professional delegation from Hong Kong and mainland China to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to establish new trade corridors amid global geopolitical tensions, resulting in 96 deals worth US$1.65 billion.
On Monday, Lee said during a virtual appearance at the conference that a bank in that delegation had since backed the Development Bank of Kazakhstan with US$785 million in financing.