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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government's Principal Hong Kong Economic and Trade Representative in Japan, Mrs Jennie Chok, today (March 20) addressed an audience of about 170 people from political, business and media circles of Okinawa, updating them on Hong Kong's economy and the expanding scope of business opportunities for foreign investors that are available in Hong Kong.
Mrs Chok was speaking at the luncheon seminar on "Hong Kong - New Opportunities; New Attractions" organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Tokyo).
Vice-Governor of the Okinawa Prefecture Government, Ms Katsuko Asato, gave welcoming and introductory remarks.
At the seminar, Mrs Chok said that Hong Kong had long enjoyed close economic ties with the Okinawa Prefecture, and merchandise trade between the two places exceeded 5 billion yen in 2005, representing a significant growth of 35.9% over the previous year.
She pointed out that Hong Kong was the third largest export market of Okinawa and more than 90% of the bilateral trade between the two places actually consisted of exports from Okinawa to Hong Kong - exports that include mainly petroleum products and mechanical products.
Noting that Hong Kong was the sixth largest source of foreign visitors to Okinawa Prefecture, Mrs Chok was pleased to see the resumption next month of chartered flights between Naha, the capital city of the Prefecture, and Hong Kong which will further boost the people flow between the two places.
Mrs Chok told the Okinawa audience that Hong Kong was enjoying sustained and broad-based recovery, with GDP growing by 7.3% in 2005 and 6.8% in 2006.
"Foreign investment has been particularly strong, with inflows of FDI to Hong Kong during the first three quarters of 2006 amounting to US$29.6 billion (equivalent to around 3.340 trillion yen), or 17 % higher than the same period of 2005," she said.
There are more than 3,840 companies from all over the world that have either regional headquarters or regional offices in Hong Kong. Among them, more than 730 are Japanese companies, whose businesses cover various sectors such as banking, transportation and retail services.
The increasing economic integration with Mainland China and the latter's spectacular economic growth have opened up immense business opportunities for foreign investors.
"The increasing depth and breadth of our economic co-operation with the Mainland of China can best be demonstrated by the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) signed between our two economies," Mrs Chok said.
Under CEPA, all products of Hong Kong origin now enjoy tariff-free access to the Mainland Chinese market; and Hong Kong service suppliers in 27 service areas, including retail/distribution, logistics, construction, and audio-visual, etc., enjoy preferential treatment on the Mainland market.
Mrs Chok stressed that foreign companies based in Hong Kong were also able to enjoy these benefits. "Indeed, Japanese companies are among the largest single group of foreign businesses that have taken advantage of CEPA to expand into China," she said.
At the luncheon seminar, Director, Japan of Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Ms Shigemi Furuta, and Regional Director, North Asia of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Mr Ken Kano, also spoke respectively on specific partnership opportunities open to Japanese businesses, and the latest tourist attractions and campaigns in Hong Kong.
Ends/Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Issued at HKT 17:10
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