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Permanent Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Joshua Law, officiated at the plaque unveiling ceremony for the Fujian Liaison Unit of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in Fuzhou today (February 27). He also met with the leaders of the Fujian Province and the Fuzhou Municipality including the provincial and municipal Vice Party Secretaries, Mr Chen Wen-qing and Mr Zhou Hong, respectively.
At the plaque unveiling ceremony this morning, Mr Law said, "Hong Kong and Fujian have established close ties. Hong Kong is the major source of foreign investment and one of the key export markets of the Fujian Province."
"The Fujian Province has approved the establishment of over 23 000 Hong Kong enterprises, accounting for more than half of all enterprises in the province. The realised direct investment from Hong Kong exceeded US$50 billion, representing some 48% of the total amount for the entire province. Given the clear national policy to focus on developing the Economic Zone on the West Coast of the Taiwan Strait (Haixi Economic Zone) as a testing ground for cross-Strait exchanges and with Fujian as the principal province, the Fujian Liaison Unit will seek to enhance cooperation between Hong Kong and the Haixi Economic Zone on various fronts, and assist Hong Kong businesses in seizing the new development opportunities of the area."
At the meetings with the Vice Party Secretaries of Fujian and Fuzhou, Mr Law expressed his appreciation to the provincial and municipal governments for their support to the Fujian Liaison Unit. He stressed that, "The Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) provides an enabling platform for co-operation between the services industries of both places. In particular, pilot measures have been implemented in Fujian in areas such as medical, tourism, convention and exhibition, and transport services to offer more preferential market entry treatment for the Hong Kong services sectors."
"I believe that upon its establishment, the Fujian Liaison Unit will continue to push forward the implementation of the various measures under CEPA in Fujian and the Haixi Economic Zone. The Unit will also promote Hong Kong's complementarity vis-a-vis the cities in the Haixi Economic Zone, with a view to joining forces in leveraging on the enormous development potentials of the area."
Ends/Monday, February 27, 2012
Issued at HKT 23:24
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