The Belt and Road Initiative will bring new opportunities for the legal circle in Hong Kong, Leung Chun-ying, chief executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said Friday.[Special Coverage]
The initiative will bring opportunities for the young people in Hong Kong's legal circle just as what the opening-up of the Chinese mainland did to Hong Kong legal professionals over the past 30-odd years, Leung said in a blog published online after he attended the Belt and Road Conference 2017 hosted by the Law Society of Hong Kong.
The conference witnessed the signing of a "Hong Kong Manifesto" between the Law Society of Hong Kong and 37 legal groups from 22 countries and regions, which aims to promote legal cooperation between countries and regions along the Belt and Road.
"The next 12 months will see the drawing of a new era for the legal profession along the Belt and Road route. It will herald the arrival of tremendous transactions and projects from a great multitude of jurisdictions all requiring legal services," Leung quoted the manifesto as saying in his blog, praising the manifesto for "highlighting Hong Kong's role as a major node and a 'super connector' in the Belt and Road."
In his speech at the conference on Friday morning, Leung said the Belt and Road will create huge and fresh business opportunities for legal profession, as the growth of trade, investment and infrastructure development will bring up demands for legal services including contract negotiation and management, as well as dispute mediation.
Under "one country, two systems" and with Hong Kong's international network, Hong Kong could be an ideal partner in legal services for companies from both the Chinese mainland and foreign countries, he said.
