CEO Blog

More importantly, however, the potential for future growth is significant.

In the same way that I saw the streams of people making their way along Jalan Raja Alang to go to Chow Kit, we are seeing and hearing the desire among global and regional partners alike to participate in Asia’s capital markets, and more so than ever amid the persistent geopolitical volatility in the world today.

The opportunities are also compelling. China has the biggest and most exciting growth opportunities and capital pools in the region. The rest of Asia is also teeming with innovative companies harbouring global ambitions and investor bases managing deep and diverse sources of capital.

What if we could build bridges to create a truly connected Asian market – where capital flows more seamlessly across borders, where companies scale with ease, and where investors from around the world can experience the vibrancy of Asia’s capital markets and access the best of its growth stories?

As core market infrastructure, exchanges can lead the charge in making this vision a reality.

At HKEX, we have long championed connectivity and positioned ourselves as a superconnector. Our Connect programmes with the Chinese Mainland have become a model for how infrastructure and regulation can come together to drive cross-border capital flows.

As part of our strategy to expand our product ecosystem and grow our index business, we’re developing benchmarks that support product innovation and deepen connectivity across markets.

We have recently launched cross-listed, co-branded indices with Bursa Malaysia and Korea Exchange, symbolising what’s possible when exchanges collaborate, and offering a concentrated perspective on some of the most dynamic companies in our markets.

With weightings of approximately 60% for Hong Kong-listed companies and 40% in overseas-listed companies, the indices are designed to support exchange traded funds (ETFs) that track these benchmarks and may be eligible for inclusion under Southbound ETF Connect – enabling investors in the Chinese Mainland to access more diversified cross-market exposure. And I’m pleased to share that a number of issuers have expressed interest to list ETFs in Hong Kong based on these indices.

Importantly, these indices also lay the groundwork for a broader suite of structured products and derivatives. By establishing common benchmarks across markets, we are creating the foundation for futures, options, and other risk management tools that can deepen liquidity, enhance price discovery, and support more sophisticated investment strategies across the region.

This next phase of product innovation will further deepen regional connectivity and expand the range of instruments available that are tailored specifically to the region’s investors, enabling more effective hedging and portfolio construction, and attracting a broader spectrum of investors to our markets.

Complementing our product innovation is our continued investment in platform development.

Our recent MoU with Bursa Malaysia builds on our ongoing collaboration with markets across Southeast Asia. This includes Recognised Stock Exchange (RSE) arrangements with the Stock Exchange of Thailand, Indonesia Stock Exchange, and Singapore Exchange, with more to follow.

Our MoU with Bursa Malaysia will explore how to develop more pathways to dual listings. More than 150 companies from Southeast Asia are already listed in Hong Kong and have raised more than US$4.3 billion, making Hong Kong the most popular destination for Southeast Asian companies going public overseas.

For the growing pool of high-quality companies in both Malaysia and Southeast Asia more widely, international expansion may be the next logical step in their growth story, and HKEX can complement our market partners by connecting companies with both international and Chinese Mainland capital through our unique dual connectivity, and enabling global and Chinese Mainland investors to participate in new, exciting growth opportunities.

By adding more products and building more platforms, we want to connect more participants from around the world with the best of Asia – here in Hong Kong – creating a bigger and more vibrant liquidity pool for the entire region.

This process will not be easy. The challenges are significant, ranging from an ever-changing geopolitical backdrop to formidable operational challenges, but the prize – a vibrant, regional market ecosystem connecting to participants around the world and that is fit to power Asian growth in the next decade and beyond – is worth striving for.

And as we convene 18 regional exchanges here in Hong Kong for the Asian and Oceanian Stock Exchanges Federation’s (AOSEF) 40th General Assembly next week, I am looking forward to working with our partners to align priorities and find ways to advance coordinated action on cross-market connectivity.

By deepening regional cooperation and building bridges, we can build on the momentum we are already seeing – keeping more capital within Asia, growing the regional liquidity pool, improving price discovery, and supporting more resilient capital markets that serve companies, investors, and economies across our region and beyond.

So now let us turn shared intent into practical progress. Working together – across exchanges, markets, and investor communities – we can build bridges that connect participants from around the world, create lasting value, and enhance the vibrancy of the region’s capital markets, and the world’s.