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The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, officiated at the opening ceremony of the CEO Forum of the SmartHK fair in Nanjing today (June 10).
The two-day fair aims to showcase Hong Kong's full range of business support services that help Mainland enterprises to transform and upgrade.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr So said one of the objectives of the National 12th Five-Year Plan was to increase the proportion of value added by the services industry in the Gross Domestic Product, and this objective in return would bring about enormous opportunities for Hong Kong's enterprises in the services industry.
"The stable development of Hong Kong's information technology and creative industries, as well as the testing and certification industry, in recent years has become a new driver of our economic development," Mr So said.
Mr So noted that practitioners in Hong Kong's information technology and digital design sectors possess good professional skills and design capabilities, and these talents know the market well. He said he trusts that they can assist Mainland brands in making achievements in the fiercely competitive Internet world.
Mr So expressed the hope that Hong Kong enterprises in the services industry would not only experience the business opportunities in Nanjing through participating in the fair, but start exchanges with enterprises from Jiangsu Province and the Yangtze River Delta for further co-operation.
Thousands of visitors from local enterprises are attending the fair to gain first-hand information on Hong Kong's services industry through three thematic exhibition zones, namely "Innovative Design and Marketing", "Technological Advancement" and "Management Upgrading". The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai and Invest Hong Kong have also set up booths in the fair to promote Hong Kong as a gateway to the global market.
The SmartHK fair is jointly organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the Jiangsu Economic and Information Technology Commission, the Department of Commerce of Jiangsu Province, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government, the Press Office of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government, and the Nanjing Municipal People's Government.
While in Nanjing, Mr So also met with the Deputy Secretary of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, Mr Shi Taifeng, to discuss issues of mutual concern.
Mr So will return to Hong Kong this afternoon.
Ends/Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Issued at HKT 15:00
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