Middle East

Hong Kong-based Branded, a live media company, increasingly holds festivals and other events in Belt and Road countries and CEO Jasper Donat sees the Initiative as enhancing business, while Hong Kong is an easy and entrepreneurial centre for operations. With many events like music and YouTube festivals in Southeast Asia, Branded has most recently initiated events in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Speaker: Jasper Donat, Co-Founder & CEO, Branded

Related Links:
Hong Kong Trade Development Council
http://www.hktdc.com

HKTDC Belt and Road Portal
http://beltandroad.hktdc.com/en/

BillionGroup Technologies Ltd, an energy and environmental consultant in Hong Kong founded in 1991, has established an international presence through providing public and private sectors with a diversity of consultancy and implementation services related to energy conservation and pollution prevention.

The consultancy firm’s clientele spans different parts of the world, including Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland, other parts of Asia, Europe, Africa and Americas. In 2012, it made its first foray into Bangladesh, a country covered by the Belt and Road Initiative, to oversee the operational efficiency of six local factories. Recently, BillionGroup entered into deals with the commercial sectors in the Asian-Pacific region. With the support of governments including that of Bangladesh, the Hong Kong company provides green consultancy services for a variety of development projects.

BillionGroup’s services in the on-going package scheme cover an extensive scope. Leveraging its expertise and the fruits of its research in innovative energy-saving solutions, led by founder and veteran engineer Ir Steve Wong, BillionGroup strives to help the public and private sectors of Belt and Road countries, including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Timor-Leste, Thailand and Vietnam, to create a greener environment and higher operational efficiency.

The services provided by BillionGroup include the introduction of smart lighting to factories in Dhaka to achieve an estimated 95 percent cut in electricity costs, as well as an integrated airport baggage handling system, of which the cross-belt sorting technology can boost throughput by 300 percent. The system can also reduce energy costs by 33 percent and minimise the number of cases of mishandled luggage. There is also a waste-to-energy conversion scheme designed to convert 20,000 tons of urban waste to generate about 11,800 tons of organic fertilisers.

The projects are expected to help raise the living standard of people in Bangladesh and other Belt and Road countries, where energy infrastructure is insufficient and operational efficiency and environmental conservation are not always the priorities in urbanisation projects. BillionGroup’s leading role in the projects exemplifies how Hong Kong green consultants can make use of its substantial knowledge in ‒ and access to ‒ advanced technologies to help neighbouring countries along the Belt and Road routes move forward in the 21st century.

King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) advised on the launch of the first sovereign wealth fund jointly established by China and the United Arab Emirates. The establishment of the fund will significantly strengthen the cooperation between China and the United Arab Emirates, promote collaboration on the Belt and Road strategy, and enhance the international cooperation on capacity and equipment manufacturing.   

The fund was jointly established by China Development Bank Capital Corporation Ltd (CDB Capital), the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi. Launched in December 2015, the fund will invest into energy, infrastructure, high-end manufacturing, clean energy and other high-growth industries. 

This deal was innovative in the design of its establishment mode and investment strategy. The fund was established by the subsidiary investment institutions of each government, therefore requiring careful consideration of the policies on currency and foreign exchange. 

The investment advisor (IA) of the fund is based and operates in Hong Kong. Therefore, Hong Kong law was used as the governing law for all key fund documents for the IA, covering issues from internal compliance to the IA's daily operations. 

KWM acted as the PRC and Hong Kong legal counsels for CDB Capital. KWM provided a one-stop service including negotiations with sovereign parties, offshore analysis, fund structuring and fund formation advice, regulatory compliance requirements and anti-trust law related advice. 

KWM’s Hong Kong team of lawyers advised on a wide range issues in connection with the fund’s formation and its subsequent operations such as SFC license issues, leases, employment law issues, etc. Drawing on the experience of the KWM team (many of whom are qualified in both PRC law and common law jurisdictions), their bilingual language capabilities and knowledge of working with Chinese businesses, KWM was able to work seamlessly with the Chinese parties and the Middle East sovereign wealth fund.

This transaction was short listed for the award of “Innovation in Corporate & Commercial Law (Asia-Pacific headquartered law firms)” by the Financial Times Asia Pacific Innovative Lawyers 2016 Awards. The KWM team was led by Beijing partner Gong Mulong and Beijing/Hong Kong partner Helena Huang, with support from Hong Kong partner Guo Sun Lee and Beijing partners Liu Cheng, Liu Zhigang, Wu Wei and Tang Yingmao.

Over its 77-year history, Hsin Chong has established a wealth of experience in building infrastructure and project managing major infrastructure developments. In 2010, Hsin Chong provided consultancy services for the system design and construction management of the Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro Project in Saudi Arabia. This 18-kilometre railway system is designed to efficiently transport about 72,000 passengers per direction per hour to alleviate the age-old congestion problem during the busiest time of the year for the city of Mecca.

Overcoming heat and blowing sand to ensure that the project successfully met its targets, special Hsin Chong support staff, comprising a team of engineering experts and a group of management staff, worked together with the China Railway Construction Corporation Ltd (CRCC) to successfully deliver the challenging project in November 2010. Since then, each year, millions of pilgrims from around the world are enjoying the use of the new system to travel to the holy sites in Mecca to perform the Hajj.

Founded in 1982 as a customs consultancy, Barsan Global Logistics (BGL) had grown to become Turkey’s largest customs company in seven years. Since 1990, the company has been involved in global transportation through land, air, sea, rail and multi-modal freight forwarding, bonded and non-bonded warehousing, and stock management.  Hong Kong has played an important role as BGL expanded its global presence, as BGL has today 33 branches in 14 countries and an annual turnover of some 400 million US dollars.

BGL expanded its network in Asia in 2001 when it established “Barsan Global Logistics HK Ltd” in Hong Kong. This Hong Kong branch has been providing research and management advisory services to companies across Asia and Europe, a large part of which is now covered by China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Ebru Busra Tunca, Director of Barsan Global Logistics HK Ltd, said Hong Kong’s Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the Chinese mainland and its proximity with the dynamic economy of the Pearl River Delta are among the reasons that made Hong Kong one of the strongest logistics bases in Asia. She said Hong Kong’s “East-meets-West” culture has also been an attraction for overseas companies looking to expand their business in the region.  

BGL’s Hong Kong branch has proven to be a stepping stone to various emerging markets in Asia, and has remained an important regional office for BGL. BGL subsequently opened its Shanghai branch and became the first Turkish logistics company to establish a presence on the Chinese mainland. This was followed by new branches in Yiwu, Busan, South Korea, as well as Shenzhen and Ningbo. BGL’s steady growth and its worldwide network spanning East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Europe and North America have demonstrated the importance of worldwide supply chain management. The company will continue to expand its network, targeting to be among the top ten logistics companies in the world by 2020.