How Hong Kong can unlock the real value of its Asean trade boom

Tan Poh Hwee is president of the Asia Academy of Digital Economics, a Singapore-based non-profit, and a corresponding fellow of the National Academy of Artificial Intelligence.The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has a role to play in Hong Kong’s plans for its economy. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu signalled as much when he touched on the city’s first five-year plan in his August 7 meeting with Asean Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn.For businesses, however, the central question is not whether Hong Kong-Asean economic ties will continue to grow. They will. The harder question is who will capture the value that growth creates.Asean has been Hong Kong’s second-largest trading partner since 2010. In 2025, merchandise Trade reached HK$1.67 trillion (US$212.8 billion), accounting for 15.3 per cent of the city’s global goods Trade, while Hong Kong’s direct investment stock in Asean exceeded HK$670 billion at the end of 2024.