************************************************************
In a seminar held today (December 12, Canada time) in St. John's, Newfoundland, the Acting Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Canada, Mr Francis Ho, told companies in Atlantic Canada that Hong Kong could be an ideal base to launch their products and services for Mainland China, and to find business partners who could help them access the China market.
Addressing the business seminar entitled "Courting the Asian Giant" co-organized by Industry Canada, International Trade Canada, and Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Mr Ho advised the participants on using Hong Kong as a gateway to enter the fast-growing markets in major Chinese cities.
For the past twenty years, China has gone from an economic backwater to become the world's most dynamic economy, in particular, its Pearl River Delta (PRD), which has emerged as the most important economic region in China, said Mr Ho. To effectively get into the unknown market, overseas companies need to have to a "China Strategy" - one that Hong Kong plays a vital role to assist Canadian companies to enter the China market.
Encompassing 14 Mainland China cities and counties in Guangdong province, Mr Ho described the PRD region as "one of China's best kept secrets", which continues to exhibit growth rates that have outstripped every other part of China.
"Among visible large-scale investments that have been made to serve the region itself, much of the development in the PRD region has been in the private sector. For all these years, PRD - the most affluent region in China - has developed into a consumer market and its residents avid purchasers of computers, mobile phones and professional services", he said.
As far as Hong Kong's role is concerned, he said Hong Kong is indeed ideally positioned to customize world products and services to local Chinese and other Asian market conditions and requirements.
He cited examples of Canadian companies that had used Hong Kong as the customization base to look for business partners to help distribute their products and services, as well as look for sourcing opportunities in the China market. Companies who use Hong Kong as the gateway to enter the China market include: Research in Motion, Lord & Partners and Delcan.
In addition to the distinctive Hong Kong advantages such as the rule of law, a robust intellectual property protection regime, free flow of information and level-playing field for all businesses, the implementation of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Hong Kong and China allows the removal of tariffs from all Hong Kong products and gives preferential access to a number of Hong Kong service industries and professions to enter that Mainland China market. This arrangement has created vast business opportunities for foreign companies which could also benefit from the "nationality-blind" free-trade pact.
Today's seminar also covered topics on "Intellectual Property Protection", experience sharing on "Atlantic Company Asia Pacific Success Stories", and "ITU Telecom World 2006 Presentation". The seminar was broadcast simultaneously to other eastern Canada cities including Fredericton, Charlottetown and Halifax.
Ends/Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Issued at HKT 09:55
NNNN
