With China's "Belt and Road" initiative set to unleash bountiful investment opportunities in countries along the project's routes, particularly in the construction sector, Hong Kong's mass-transit operator and property developer MTR Corporation Ltd (MTRC) is rallying its strength for a piece of the action.

Already hailed as running the world's most envied metro system, the privately-run, Hong Kong-listed company has been ambitiously beefing up its overseas presence in the past 15 years.

Currently, MTRC operates the London Overground - a suburban rail network - two lines of the Beijing Metro, as well as parts of the Shenzhen and Hangzhou Metro systems on the mainland, the Melbourne Metro in Australia and the Stockholm Metro in Sweden.

In July last year, the corporation clinched another contract in the UK to operate services on the 14.5-billion-pound ($22.2 billion) cross-London Crossrail train route, beating British rivals Go-Ahead, National Express and Arriva for the high-profile franchise.

The much heralded "Belt and Road" - a sweeping plan to extend China's global influence through financing infrastructure projects in 65 nations that are home to two-thirds of humanity - will "create significant opportunities for companies like MTRC", said MTRC Chief Executive Officer Lincoln Leong Kwok-kuen.

These opportunities, he said, should be indicated as working with other partners, like Chinese mainland suppliers, to jointly explore business potential in countries along the "Belt and Road" routes. "And from MTRC's perspective, what matters most is how we can add value to countries and regions in which we want to develop our presence, and to the metro systems we want to operate," Leong said.

With abundant consulting work in Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East, MTRC is all geared up to tap the infrastructure opportunities offered in the "Belt and Road" markets.

To embark on the infrastructure investment spree in the "Belt and Road" regions, Leong believes that the importance of a business model can never be over-exaggerated. As the operator of Hong Kong's 218-kilometer metro network serving 2.3 million passengers per day, MTRC has developed a "rail-plus-property" business model, luring international clients seeking to emulate its success.

As the showpiece of such a successful business model on the mainland, the Tiara - MTRC's first property development project on the mainland - has been well received. The project, located in Shenzhen's Longhua district, drew more than 3,000 potential buyers, with 97 percent of the 641 apartments on offer sold out on the first day of its launch in April.

Leong said the "rail-plus-property" business model is what MTRC seeks to export and duplicate when cementing itself as a global brand outside the SAR.

He said the concepts of working together and adding values will turn obstacles into fresh opportunities.

sophia@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 10/30/2015 page8)