{
  "id": 12101033,
  "title": "Ma says TDC to step up pivot to Central Asia",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/ma-says-tdc-to-step-up-pivot-to-central-asia-12101033",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-05T07:19:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "RTHK News - Finance",
    "slug": "rthk-news-finance",
    "url": "https://news.rthk.hk/rthk/en/component/k2/1872741-20261005.htm"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Frederick Ma, chairman of the Trade Development Council (TDC), announced on Monday that the organization would consider expanding its presence in Central Asia. The TDC currently operates an office in Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, where they plan to increase staffing to handle growing business activities and inquiries. Moving forward, Ma stated that the council would evaluate upgrading their current office or opening additional branches in other Central Asian countries.\n\nEight companies from Belt and Road countries have submitted listing applications to the Securities and Futures Association (SAR). Ma also expressed optimism about Hong Kong's financial expertise attracting more companies from emerging markets to expand their businesses. He emphasized that improved Sino-US relations would be beneficial for Hong Kong, noting that exports have seen a significant increase. In the first eight months of the current year, exports rose by over 40 percent, prompting the TDC to revise their export forecast upwards to a potential 42 to 47 percent growth. Ma attributed this success to Hong Kong's strong performance in the AI and semiconductor sectors.",
  "summary": "Trade Development Council chairman Frederick Ma on Monday said the body would consider scaling up its presence in Central Asia. He said the TDC had already set up an office in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, and was planning to increase manpower there to handle increasingly active business dealings and information enquiries. For the next step, it would study upgrading the office or setting up…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "RTHK News",
        "title": "Ma says TDC to step up pivot to Central Asia",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/ma-says-tdc-to-step-up-pivot-to-central-asia",
        "published": "2026-10-05T07:19:27.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}