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To celebrate the 16th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and promote Swiss-Hong Kong bilateral relations, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin) organised an annual reception in Bern, Switzerland on June 19 (Bern time).
In his welcoming remarks, Director of HKETO Berlin, Mr Ivan Lee, underlined Hong Kong's unique geopolitical position at the doorstep to China. "The rapid growth in China will continue to bring new opportunities to Hong Kong, and to Swiss companies using Hong Kong as the gateway to China and for the whole of Asia," he said.
With regard to the Swiss-Hong Kong relations, Mr Lee highlighted the strong bilateral bonds between Switzerland and Hong Kong. "Our bilateral trade has continued to grow with great momentum. In 2012, Switzerland remained one of our major trading partners in the world and our third largest in Europe. There has also been an impressive average annual growth rate of nearly 12 per cent in bilateral trade over the past five years," he said. In 2012, total bilateral trade between Switzerland and Hong Kong amounted to over US$ 13 billion.
Referring to the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Hong Kong, and the avoidance of double taxation agreement between Switzerland and Hong Kong, Mr Lee was confident that these agreements would provide further impetus to enhancing the bilateral relations. "We believe that the two agreements will create more business opportunities for both our economies by enhancing trade and investment flows," Mr Lee said.
Hong Kong is a well-established international financial hub and China's global financial centre. In addition to the great potential for further co-operation between the two economies in the financial services sector, Hong Kong also offered an ideal gateway for small and medium-sized Swiss companies to enter the fast growing Asian and Greater China markets. The opening of a Swiss Business Hub in Hong Kong last October was a testimony of Hong Kong's pivotal role as a super-connector between China and the rest of the world.
In his speech, Mr Lee also highlighted the auspicious start of a new long-term co-operation in the creative industry. "The inaugural Art Basel Hong Kong was concluded less than a month ago with astounding success. With half of the galleries coming from Asia and Asia-Pacific region, Art Basel Hong Kong's efforts to build a cultural bridge between the western art world and the blooming Asian art scene seem to have borne fruit," he said.
Close to 100 guests joined the reception, among them senior officials from the Swiss government including Head of Special Foreign Economic Service Division, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Mr Christian Etter, and Acting Head of Bilateral Economic Relations Division, SECO, Mr Erwin Bollinger, Chinese Ambassador to Switzerland, Ms Xu Jinghu, as well as senior officials of the federal government, the business community, academia, and the media.
Ends/Thursday, June 20, 2013
Issued at HKT 03:00
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