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Business opportunities will continue to abound for European entrepreneurs in Hong Kong in the Year of the Horse as our economy continues to enjoy steady growth, Special Representative for Hong Kong Economic and Trade Affairs to the European Union, Ms Linda Lai, told 150 guests at a reception in Milan on January 20 (Milan time).
She said that the visit by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in promoting Hong Kong's strengths as Asia's logistics hub last year in Milan received a very positive response from Italian participants. Riding on the previous success, Ms Lai announced that Milan was selected, alongside with Paris, as the next stop for the large scale flagship event "Think Asia, Think Hong Kong" organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council in October this year.
"As the world's freest economy, Hong Kong is often the first place to enjoy the fruits of the continuous economic liberalisation measures of Mainland China. For instance, Hong Kong continues to be the world's largest and most efficient Renminbi (RMB) business hub. There has been rapid growth in RMB trade settlement, deposits, bond issuance, fund management and financing. More opportunities will arise as the Mainland continues on the path of economic reform," Ms Lai said.
She also added that Hong Kong was knocking on the doors of other emerging economies, such as the member states of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), with whom the Hong Kong Government was negotiating a free trade agreement.
With over 50 million incoming tourists every year, including 40 million from the Mainland China, Hong Kong is the ideal location for Italian fashion and luxurious brands to expand their business.
In addition, Hong Kong provides access to promising local and regional markets for designers, advertisers, artists and new media to generate, test and commercialise innovations. This, supported by Hong Kong's robust intellectual property regime, provides vast business opportunities for Italy's internationally-renowned design, Ms Lai said.
Setting up an office in Hong Kong has never been easier as Hong Kong continues to enhance and expand its already excellent infrastructure. Some 700 000 square metres of additional office floor will be made available in the next five years when the project to transform Kowloon East into another attractive Central Business District with excellent connectivity is completed. In the same area, the old airport site at Kai Tak has been transformed into an ultra-modern Cruise Terminal, consolidating Hong Kong's position as a premier cruise hub in the Asia-Pacific Region.
As Hong Kong continues to improve its quality of life, notably its environment, environmental technologies remain much in demand, providing plentiful business opportunities for foreign companies that work in these fields.
The Chinese New Year celebration in Milan, co-hosted with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Italy-Hong Kong Association, is the first of 12 receptions that the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) will be hosting in Europe to mark the start of the Year of the Horse and to renew ties with contacts in European Union institutions, national governments, business circles, academia and the media.
Similar receptions by HKETO, Brussels will be held in Barcelona, Brussels, Bucharest, Dublin, The Hague, Istanbul, Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, Venice and Zagreb in the coming weeks. A total of around 2 000 guests are expected to attend.
HKETO, Brussels will showcase the cultural talents in Hong Kong by bringing three musical acts to some of the above cities. Renowned fusion band SIU2 will perform at the reception in Paris; Marimba Duo Adilia Yip and Fiona Foo Pui-yee will perform a Marimba Fantasia of Chinese New Year in Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon and Istanbul; and brilliant young Hong Kong pianist Aristo Sham will perform in Brussels and The Hague.
Ends/Friday, January 24, 2014
Issued at HKT 22:42
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