Hong Kong eyes Central Asian listings as HKEX CEO pitches city’s deep liquidity

Bonnie Chan says city seeks closer collaboration with region ahead of city leader’s high-level trip to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in early June

Hong Kong is an excellent option for Central Asian companies considering secondary listings to raise funds for expansion due to its deep liquidity, as the city eyes rapidly growing markets in the region, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) CEO Bonnie Chan Yiting has said.

Chan, who will join a high-level delegation led by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in early June, also said the city’s bourse was “definitely” eyeing closer collaboration with its counterparts in the region.

“We want to make sure that we are a very accessible market when it comes to global companies wanting to explore accessing a deeper capitalising platform,” she said.

Kazakhstan, a key belt and road partner, is Central Asia’s largest economy and an emerging financial hub, with its gross domestic product reaching US$302.7 billion last year.

Last September, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan issued a 2 billion yuan (US$280.8 million) bond in Hong Kong, the first listed in the city by a Central Asian state-owned enterprise.

Tungsten mining company Jiaxin International Resources also debuted on both the Hong Kong and Kazakhstani stock exchanges – the first such dual-listing for the country – last year.