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The total value of bilateral trade between Kagoshima and Hong Kong exceeded 12 billion yen in 2006, which was almost 10 times the value in 2001, Principal Representative of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Tokyo (HKETO) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Mrs Jennie Chok, said tonight (March 13).
Mrs Chok was speaking at a dinner reception in Kagoshima, Japan. Hosted by the HKETO, the reception was attended by about 30 senior government officials, politicians, academics and business leaders.
Noting that Kagoshima was the first Japanese Prefecture to set up a representative office in Hong Kong, Mrs Chok said the close Hong Kong-Kagoshima relationship ranged from trade to other areas such as youth exchange, arts and cultural participation as well as tourism promotion.
On tourism, Mrs Chok welcomed Hong Kong Express Airways' launching of direct flights between Hong Kong and Kagoshima next month.
“This is possible because of the strong trade, cultural and tourism ties between Hong Kong and Kagoshima and the recent decision by the Japanese Government to accept Hong Kong’s request to liberalise the aviation market between Hong Kong and Japan,” she said.
At the reception, Mrs Chok also took the opportunity to update guests on the latest political and economic developments in Hong Kong.
She said a long list of infrastructural projects, including new bridges and highways, would come on stream in the next five to 10 years to further enhance Hong Kong’s connectivity to southern China and boost its strengths in the shipping, logistics and tourism sectors.
“Foreign companies based in Hong Kong, under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, are able to enjoy the institutional strengths offered by Hong Kong while at the same time benefit from the tremendous business opportunities in the China market,” Mrs Chok said.
Another initiative was the Pan-Pearl River Delta “9+2” market which covered a population of about 470 million and accounted for roughly 40 percent of China’s total GDP of US$2.7 trillion in 2006.
“Given all these new developments and our advantageous geographical location, you may agree that Hong Kong is a city of unlimited potential – potential that Kagoshima businesses are welcome to explore with us,” Mrs Chok said.
The reception was well received by the guests who included the Governor of Kagoshima Prefecture, Mr Yuichiro Ito; Chairman of Kagoshima Prefecture Assembly, Mr Masuo Kaneko; and Mayor of Kagoshima City, Mr Hiroyuki Mori.
Ends/Thursday, March 13, 2008
Issued at HKT 19:00
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