EU commissioner's Hong Kong trip eyes attracting Asian investments into EU

European Commissioner Jonathan Hill on Wednesday left for a visit to Asia's capital hub Hong Kong in an alleged bid to attract more Asian investments into the European Union (EU).

In an interview with Xinhua conducted ahead of the tour, the EU commissioner in charge of financial stability, financial services and capital markets union said during the visit he will be trying to deliver a message that "Europe is open to business, is open to investment while we are reforming and changing."

During his visit, the Commissioner will have intense meetings with Hong Kong's top monetary and financial regulators as well as representatives of local professional associations.

"I will talk with the regulators and the representatives about how we can work together more closely, how we can recognize more of each other's rules, systems and that makes it easier to trade together," Hill said.

Hill told Xinhua he planned to tell Asian investors about the opportunities for foreign investment in the EU. "We have got big priority to encourage jobs and growth. And we welcome investment from outside," he said.

The EU official said he will talk about the work he is doing to strengthen the role of capital market in Europe's economy, called the capital market union.

"We are trying to increase the contribution of the capital market that could make to the European economy," he said, adding that non-bank funding in the EU is lagging behind other main economies such as the United States.

Hill said Hong Kong with its strength of financial services can help funnel funding all over Asia into the EU and then back the other way. Enditem