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A mega investment promotion event, "Hong Kong¡VGuangdong Business Conference USA 2005" was successfully held in San Francisco today (October 14, US time). The conference was jointly organised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government and the People's Government of Guangdong Province.
The Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR, Mr Henry Tang, and the Governor of the People's Government of Guangdong Province, Mr Huang Huahua, led high-level delegations and delivered keynote addresses at the event.
The business conference presented the enormous investment opportunities in the Greater Pearl River Delta, Guangdong and Hong Kong for US enterprises interested in expanding their overseas presence in this rapidly growing Southern region of Mainland China.
The Hong Kong/Guangdong combination has been a unique attraction and one of the successful elements in the winning formula for many foreign companies. US companies were therefore encouraged to leverage on the advantages of using Guangdong as their manufacturing base, while taking advantage of Hong Kong's world-class business and professional services and making the city a base for their regional operations.
Consul General of The People's Republic of China in San Francisco, Ambassador Peng Keyu, opened the conference.
Senior management of prominent US companies - the President of Du Pont China, Mr Huang Xian-zhong and the Vice-president, Commercial and Channel Sales, Asia Pacific/Japan of EMC Corporation, Mr Ron Goh - shared their successful experiences with event participants.
More than 1,000 top executives from US companies attended the conference and showed strong interest in the business opportunities in the Greater Pearl River Delta region (comprising Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao) which is one of the most prosperous regions on the Mainland.
Mr Tang, highlighted to US companies the attractive business opportunities that Hong Kong and Guangdong together presented to them and the importance of investing in the Southern part of China to their global business strategy.
"Hong Kong and Guangdong have combined and leveraged our respective strengths to develop one of the world's most efficient and cost-effective manufacturing supply chain," Mr Tang said, "Hong Kong provides the capital, management, technology, market knowledge and access to international markets, while Guangdong's cities offer a world-class, low-cost manufacturing base and access to a new, demanding consumer base."
Invest Hong Kong and the Guangdong Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, the investment promotion agencies of the Hong Kong SAR Government and Guangdong Province, respectively, were the organisers of the business conference.
A Hong Kong seminar entitled "Capitalising on the Hong Kong Advantage" was held concurrently with the event. Organised by Invest Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in San Francisco and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the seminar received a high favourable response from the US business community. Discussions focused on Hong Kong's role as a technology transfer and a service centre for Mainland China. Speakers from prominent US companies also explained how they successfully capitalised on Hong Kong's competitive advantages for their expansion into the Mainland.
The Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Mr Mike Rowse, pointed out that US has been one of the most important sources of foreign investment, both in terms of the amount of funds and the skills and expertise contributed to our economy by these companies.
"Invest Hong Kong has been assisting many US companies and working closely with enterprises in the IT, technology, financial services, business and professional services sectors and many other sectors. They often bring in cutting edge know-how ¡V- not only in IT, technology or telecoms sectors, but also in such areas as financial services and sophisticated management consulting," Mr Rowse said.
"We are delighted to see them establish and grow in the city. Many of them even have taken Hong Kong as the springboard to the Mainland market. There is no other better proof than their successful experiences to convince US companies to adopt the winning formula by investing and establishing their regional base in Hong Kong, Asia's premier business capital."
The Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco, Ms Doris Cheung, applauded the success of the Business Conference.
"Conference participants, mostly top US corporate executives from the high technology and services sectors, demonstrated keen interest in the new business opportunities offered by the Greater Pearl River Delta region, and in the unique role of Hong Kong as a two-way platform for the region. In particular, the Hong Kong seminar has highlighted to participants how they can capitalise on Hong Kong's various business advantages. We are most pleased that in addition to the City of San Francisco and California Chamber of Commerce, some 20 US organisations have worked with us in making the Business Conference a success. Such close partnership and collaboration have no doubt further strengthened the strong ties between Hong Kong and the Northern California community," she said.
Ends/Saturday, October 15, 2005
Issued at HKT 11:21
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