HONG KONG -- The Maritime Silk Road Society (MSRS) was inaugurated on Monday to explore new development opportunities for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative.

"The Maritime Silk Road Society has been established in support of the nation's Belt and Road Initiative, partly to leverage Hong Kong's unique position as the linchpin between Chinese mainland and overseas countries and regions in promoting intra-region business, trade and cultural exchange, and partly to identify new developmental opportunities for Hong Kong," Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, co-chair of the MSRS, said at the inauguration ceremony.

Historically Hong Kong was a transit port along the ancient maritime Silk Road, she said, adding that today Hong Kong can make significant contributions to the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative by leveraging its unique advantages in business know-how, trade and culture.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, are aimed at reviving the ancient trade routes that span Asia, Africa and Europe.

"As a highly sophisticated financial center, Hong Kong has great potential in functioning as a fund-raising platform for the infrastructural development under the aegis of this strategy," she said.

The Maritime Silk Road Society, according to the co-chair, is expected to bring together Hong Kong's community and provide full support to this unprecedented national project.

Xu Jialu, former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of China's top legislature, the National People's Congress, sent a congratulatory message to the MSRS inauguration.

In the message, he said Hong Kong, a melting pot of eastern and western cultures, would play an important role in facilitating cultural exchanges as well as trade and commerce alongside related countries and regions.