Paul Lam Begins Almaty Visit to Deepen Legal Ties
SingTao · 2 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago3 MIN
Summary
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok has arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, for a two-day visit that follows Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s June trip to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and seeks to sustain momentum in bilateral exchanges. Lam said the visit carries added significance because President Xi Jinping first proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt in Kazakhstan in 2013, while the delegation is now visiting a key Belt and Road starting point. During the trip, the Department of Justice and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council are co-hosting a “Collaborate2Win” seminar for more than 100 local business and legal participants to explain how Hong Kong’s financial-centre status and common law system can support cooperation with Kazakhstan. Before the seminar, Lam also met Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Prosecutor General, Umiraliyev Zhandos Zhanibekovich, and brought members of the Investor Rights Protection Committee established in December last year to discuss a regular communication mechanism for businesses using Hong Kong to connect internationally or investing in Kazakhstan
Key Points
- Lam said the delegation would meet Xinjiang-Hong Kong law firms serving mainland enterprises in Central Asia and representatives of the Shaanxi Chamber of Commerce to hear Chinese businesspeople’s practical needs in Kazakhstan
- The “Collaborate2Win” seminar was jointly organised by the Department of Justice and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, with more than 100 participants from Kazakhstan’s business and legal sectors
- Speakers at the seminar included First Deputy Prosecutor General Umiraliyev Zhandos Zhanibekovich, Chinese Consul General in Almaty Su Fangqiu, and HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Sophia Chong
- Lam said Hong Kong’s advantage lies in operating common law under “one country, two systems” while also understanding mainland civil law and working with civil-law jurisdictions
- He proposed linking Hong Kong law firms to the mainland-led global legal services platform “M100”, upgrading it into “M100+HK” to offer one-stop cross-border legal support
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong readers, the visit shows how the government is trying to turn the city’s legal system into a practical tool for companies expanding along Belt and Road markets, not just a branding exercise. If regular communication channels and legal-service links are built, Hong Kong firms could gain a clearer route into Central Asia while businesses from Kazakhstan may use Hong Kong more confidently for investment and dispute-related support