Standard Chartered (2888) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Asakabank, one of Uzbekistan's state-owned banks, and Shanghai SUS Environment, a waste-to-energy technology and environmental services provider, at the 11th Belt and Road Summit on Thursday.
The MOUs extend the momentum of the government-led business delegation to central Asia in June, expanding the Hong Kong-Central Asia corridor in terms of cash management, foreign exchange and risk management, financing, debt capital markets and ESG advisory.
Standard Chartered said merchandize trade between Hong Kong and Central Asia surpassed US$324 million (HK$2.53 billion) in 2025, representing a 27 percent increase compared with 2020, which underscores the region’s increasingly important growth corridor for Hong Kong.
The bank highlighted that the Belt and Road markets deepen economic ties, with Hong Kong's merchandise trade with ASEAN, the Middle East and Central Asia increasing by an average of nearly 10 percent annually over the past five years.
Mary Huen, chief executive, Hong Kong and Greater China & North Asia, Standard Chartered, said that with continued policy support and growing cross-border connectivity, the bank is confident that Hong Kong will further strengthen its role as a leading gateway for business, investment and yuan internationalization.
