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Following is the speech delivered by the Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, at the Hong Kong Dinner hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in New York this evening (June 11, New York time):
Jack, Ms Crebo-Rediker, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good evening.
I am delighted to have this opportunity to join you all here in the great city of New York.
I would like to thank the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), under Jack's able leadership, for organising this dinner and bringing us together for an evening of warm hospitality and great friendship.
Looking around this room, we have a "united nations" of enterprise under this one roof. This should come as a surprise to no-one. Hong Kong, like New York, is a city that is tailor-made for our interconnected world, and for the modern "global citizen", which I dare say includes all of us.
Since arriving in New York on Sunday, two days ago, I have been very encouraged by the enthusiasm for stronger ties between our two cities. Just this morning, we had over 1,000 people attending the business symposium "Think Asia, Think Hong Kong". As I was entering the hall, I could see additional seats being added. Some of them are also here this evening. I guess they share my sentiment that, when it comes to New York-Hong Kong relations, you can't get enough of a good thing!
This is my first official foreign visit since I was elected Hong Kongˇ¦s Chief Executive almost a year ago. So I think this would be a good opportunity for me to share with you my vision for Hong Kong's development under the current term HKSAR Government and beyond, and how this will enhance our bilateral relations with the US.
If you look back over our city's history, the China factor has forever been a focal point. Yet, in recent times, our relationship with our motherland has sometimes been taken for granted.
I recall a speech the former British Consul-General Stephen Bradley gave when he left the post in 2008, more than a decade after the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. In his remarks he said, quote: "It rather surprises me that Hong Kong, 10 years into its new existence, is not more aggressive about promoting its connections with the rest of the country". End quote.
I agreed with Mr Bradley's comments at that time, and today, almost 16 years after Hong Kong's return to our motherland, there is still much more that we can do, and will do, to make the most of our tremendous China advantage.
Before I tell you what my Government is doing to strengthen our cross-boundary co-operation, I want to tell you why this is important not just for our city but also for our business partners here in the US and around the world.
It is important because Hong Kong is a super-connector between the world's two largest economies, the US and China. In most cases, before US companies test the water in the vast and complex markets in the Mainland of China, they come to Hong Kong. They come to us for reliable, comprehensive and up-to-date information, for the best contacts and business partnerships, they tap into our ideas and our experience in doing business in each and every province of China.
As we become more closely connected to the Mainland, we will be able to provide better information, better contacts and better ideas to US companies eyeing the China market. That will help us become a more effective connector linking the Mainland of China to the US and the rest of the world. A win, win, win result.
There are several key areas where we are actively working to strengthen our cross-boundary connectivity.
First, government-to-government (G2G) links. During my visit to Beijing in April, we made significant progress in different areas. Importantly, the HKSAR Government will be more involved in reviewing and formulating the National Five-Year Plans which serve as development blueprints for our country.
We have agreed with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) that Hong Kong will support the NDRC's interim review of the implementation of the current 12th Five-Year Plan over the past two years with a view to improving its implementation in the coming two years. We will also participate in the preliminary work on the formulation of the next, and that is the 13th Five-Year Plan. This will help to serve the development needs of Hong Kong and identify ways that our city can contribute most effectively to our country's development.
Second, business-to-business (B2B) links. I have all along been a strong advocate of our unique free trade pact with China called the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, or CEPA. CEPA gives Hong Kong-incorporated firms tariff-free and preferential access to Mainland markets. Foreign firms, including US companies, incorporated in Hong Kong enjoy the full benefits of CEPA.
I have proposed enhancing the existing mechanism for the implementation of CEPA under a joint working group with our counterparts across the boundary. The working group will hold its first meeting this month to discuss ways to make CEPA a more effective vehicle for businesses to enter the Mainland markets.
I have instructed the HKSAR Mainland offices to strengthen their operations and I have proposed establishing more HKSAR offices in different provinces to better support our business people operating across the boundary.
We are also working with our neighbouring province of Guangdong to achieve liberalistion of trade in services next year. At the same time, the "early and pilot measures" approach between Hong Kong and Guangdong will be extended to include the Pan-Pearl River Delta region which accounts for a third of China's population and about a third again of the country's GDP, a vast economic caucus.
These are just a few of the initiatives that we are working on to strengthen our Internal Relations, what I call "Nei Jiao" in Chinese. They are important because they present huge opportunities for Hong Kong, and for US companies with operations in Hong Kong.
While Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China, our city has evolved differently and forged its own niche as a free and open economy that is well-connected to the rest of the world. So our External Relations are also vitally important to us.
The 12th National Five-Year Plan that I mentioned a few minutes ago, fully supports Hong Kong's development under the principle of "One Country, Two Systems".
Under "One Country, Two Systems", Hong Kong is able to maintain its open borders, pursue business-friendly policies and welcome new talent and ideas with open arms and open minds. We are a fully-fledged member of international bodies such as the World Trade Organization, World Customs Organization and APEC under the name Hong Kong, China.
We believe in sharing our "One Country" advantages as a dynamic business and financial hub of China, with our international partners, including our US partners.
At the same time, we share the "Two Systems" advantages, namely our global perspective and global connections with our partners in the Mainland of China so that they can connect with markets here in the US and elsewhere.
This important role of Hong Kong has evolved over long period of time. If Hong Kong did not exist, it would have to be invented.
In terms of business efficiency, our relatively small city punches above its weight on the international scorecard.
Both the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC and the Fraser Institute of Canada have ranked our city as number one globally in terms of economic freedom for nearly two decades. As an international financial centre, Hong Kong continues to be ranked third behind London and New York in the latest Global Financial Centres Index. We are the world's third most competitive economy according to the International Institute of Management Development - behind the US and Switzerland, and the second easiest place to do business according to the World Bank.
While it is nice to be able to reel off these facts on occasions such as this, they do not mean a great deal to the daily activities in the offices or on the trading floors of Hong Kong. That's why we always strive to do better and we invest heavily in our future.
We have always invested in our infrastructure, turning our city into a highly efficient metropolis. It takes just 40 minutes by car to get from the Central Business District of Hong Kong to Shenzhen, which has the highest GDP per capita among the 600 cities in the Mainland of China. On an average day, around 600,000 travellers pass through the checkpoints on the boundary with Shenzhen.
Our airport and seaport are among the busiest cargo hubs in the world. And because connectivity is so important to us, major new infrastructure projects are under construction. A 42-kilometre bridge linking Hong Kong to cities in the western Pearl River Delta region and a high-speed cross-boundary railway line will provide even more efficient cross-boundary links within the next couple of years.
We also invest in our people through quality education, job training and retraining and by maintaining a high standard of living and free flows of information and ideas.
And we invest our time and energy in protecting our cherished core values, values that are shared here in the US. Our effective rule of law, independent judiciary, unfettered media and full range of personal freedoms are all enshrined in our constitutional document, the Basic Law.
I mention this because it underscores the enduring success of the principle of "One Country, Two Systems" for Hong Kong's development.
Next month, on July 1, we will celebrate the 16th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
It will be a celebration, not only of the healthy co-existence of our "two systems" - one system in the Mainland of China and the other in Hong Kong - but also a celebration of the growing importance of Hong Kong as part of "one country".
This is what makes Hong Kong attractive as a business partner in China and with China. And this is why we are acutely aware of our responsibilities and opportunities we have as a super-connector between the US and China.
As you prepare for your Fourth of July celebrations in a few weeks time, please also raise a glass for Hong Kong-US friendship and for the bright prospects of our bilateral relations.
Thank you very much and have a great evening.
Ends/Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Issued at HKT 09:46
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