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The Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, briefed ministers and their representatives from 19 other APEC member economies on the measures adopted by Hong Kong in helping SMEs ride out the global financial crisis at the 16th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Ministerial Meeting in Singapore today (October 9).
Under the theme ¡§Helping SMEs Access Global Markets and Overcome Trade Barriers¡¨, ministers and senior officials from 20 APEC member economies discussed policies and initiatives to enhance the competitiveness and facilitate the recovery of SMEs after the global economic crisis.
Speaking at the plenary meeting, Mr So said that to restore confidence and hence normal operations in the credit market, Hong Kong had put in place since late last year a series of measures, including injection of substantial liquidity into the interbank market, guaranteeing all deposits held with all authorised financial institutions, and establishment of a contingent bank capital facility to make available additional capital to locally incorporated licensed banks as necessary.
He added that one of the most important measures was the introduction of a Special Loan Guarantee Scheme, which provided a total guarantee amount of HK$100 billion to ease the immediate liquidity problem faced by Hong Kong enterprises.
¡§The scheme has achieved great success. After around 10 months of operation, we have already approved more than 21,000 applications, involving a total loan amount of more than HK$50 billion,¡¨ he said.
In the joint ministerial statement issued after the meeting, ministers reaffirmed their commitment to help SMEs position for growth after the crisis, develop market research and market access capabilities, support the implementation of the APEC SME Working Group strategic plan, as well as co-operate and collaborate with related organisations so as to enhance the competitiveness and facilitate the recovery of SMEs after the global economic crisis.
Mr So will return to Hong Kong tonight (October 9).
Ends/Friday, October 9, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:01
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