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The Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr Joseph WP Wong, today (September 20) highlighted the opportunities that Hong Kong and the Mainland offered to Australian and other international companies on the first leg of his visit to Australia.
Addressing a reception for local business companies in Sydney, Mr Wong noted that Hong Kong was attracting more investment, and more business than ever before.
"We have developed into an important service-based economy, and we are an international centre of commerce, finance and transportation," Mr Wong said.
He spoke of the Hong Kong's "Mainland advantage", which included the Guangdong connection, Pan-Pearl River Delta (Pan-PRD) cooperation and the implementation of Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA).
Mr Wong said Hong Kong was in the heart of Asia, which made it the natural hub for doing business in Asia as a whole, and also at the heart of the Pearl River Delta (PRD), the most economically dynamic region in China.
He noted that the Hong Kong-Guangdong combination had resulted in the PRD developing into one of the world's leading manufacturing centres, with Hong Kong providing the capital, management, technology, market knowledge and access to international markets and PRD cities offering world-class low-cost manufacturing, and access to a new, demanding consumer base.
On Pan-PRD cooperation, Mr Wong said the Pan-PRD Regional Co-operation and Development Forum, begun in 2004 and encompassing China's nine Southern provinces, Hong Kong and Macau, was a high priority for Hong Kong Government as we worked towards a unified and open market in the region.
"Making up one-fifth of China's land mass, the Pan-PRD has grown exponentially over the past few years. It has a combined population of 450 million, which is as big as the EU, and GDP of A$835 billion, which is over 40% of China's total output and larger than most of the world's economies."
Mr Wong pointed out that Australian and other international companies in Hong Kong were benefiting from the CEPA which came into effect on January 1, 2004.
"CEPA covers three areas: trade in goods, trade in services and trade and investment facilitation. It is WTO compliant but many benefits go beyond WTO commitments and are not being offered to other economies at this stage.
"Importantly, these benefits are available to people and businesses of all nationalities."
Mr Wong also talked about Hong Kong's competitive advantages in attracting foreign investors, such as the rule of law; clean governance; a simple, low tax regime; and unfettered flow of information and capital.
Tomorrow, Mr Wong will meet with senior Australian government officials before flying to Cairns to attend the informal ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization on Friday (September 22).
Ends/Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Issued at HKT 18:12
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