Belt & Road Summit sees record MoUs, US$3.1bn in deals

Over 60 memorandums of understanding (MoU) were signed at the two-day Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong last week, with a total deal value worth US$3.1 billion – three times last year's figure, the city's Belt and Road Commissioner said on Monday. Nicholas Ho said the 11th edition of the summit drew a more diverse range of foreign government speakers than in previous years, including the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, the Vice President of Uruguay, and other ministerial-level officials from South Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and North Africa. Ho attributed the strong Central Asian presence at the summit to the chief executive's delegation to the region in June, which generated 96 MoUs worth US$1.65 billion. Since that visit, a Kazakh state-owned company has filed to list in Hong Kong, while Kazakh institutions have issued 7.2 billion yuan worth of dim sum bonds — double the total from last year. Ho said his office has been working on inviting officials from different parts of the world. "We want to increase the country coverage. So, apart from just Asean, the Middle East and Central Asia as its core, we have also included South Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe and North Af