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Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, at the opening ceremony of "In Style•Hong Kong" organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) in Jakarta, Indonesia, this morning (September 17):
Minister Arief (Yahya), Ambassador Xie (Feng) (Ambassador of the People's Republic of China), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Selamat pagi ("good morning"). Good morning. A very good morning to you all.
It's a great pleasure to be here, on my first official visit to Indonesia. I've certainly picked the right reason, the right time, and the right place to be in Indonesia. Over the next three days, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council's ambitious "In Style•Hong Kong" promotion will showcase the best of Hong Kong in two high-powered, highly appealing, areas: our smartly styled lifestyle products and our internationally in-demand business services.
And what better place to do so than Jakarta, Indonesia's business, cultural, creative and political capital. Indeed, Jakarta is a rising global powerhouse buoyed by a surging economy and an ambitious, increasingly brand-conscious population.
That's why we're here with "In Style•Hong Kong", a brand and services promotion counting more than 180 Hong Kong companies. Together, we can help satisfy your consumer and your business services' needs, wants and wishes.
While this year's "In Style•Hong Kong" may be new, it arrives as a high-profile expansion of the HKTDC's Lifestyle Expo in Jakarta, which took place here over the previous three years.
And when it comes to doing business, Hong Kong and Indonesia have a long and mutually rewarding history. Last year, our total merchandise trade exceeded US$5 billion, up nearly 2 per cent over the previous year. Through the first six months of this year, it's up again - 2.5 per cent, year on year. And our services trade in 2014 was worth some US$1.4 billion, an increase of nearly 7 per cent over 2013 results.
Good numbers, to be sure, and with the promise of much more to come as Indonesia's 250 million people continue to urbanise, to demand the best that the world has to offer.
The strength of Indonesia pushes well past the limits of its vast archipelago. You are a key member of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations), our important partner in commerce and trade. Indeed, ASEAN is Hong Kong's second-largest trading partner in goods and our fourth largest in services in the world. Last year, the total value of merchandise trade between Hong Kong and ASEAN exceeded US$106 billion - up 10 per cent over the previous year. I am confident that our mutual trade and investment could only be better, generating new business opportunities while boosting economic growth on both sides.
The ASEAN-Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will certainly help. The FTA covers trade in goods and related issues, trade in services, investment, economic and technical co-operation, and dispute settlement. The fourth round of negotiations took place in July, in Singapore.
I look forward to the FTA's successful conclusion in the coming year. It will, I know, strengthen economic ties and co-operation between Hong Kong and Indonesia. With our help, it will encourage more Indonesian exports to the Mainland of China. Inevitably, more Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese investment will also find its way into Indonesia.
That connection is among Hong Kong's unique business strengths. I'm talking, of course, about our role - Hong Kong's role - as the "super-connector" between the Mainland of China and the world. Our free-trade experience and global connectivity have supported - indeed, fast-tracked - the Mainland's opening up to the world for more than three decades now.
More than the Mainland's largest investor, Hong Kong is the launching pad for Chinese companies and brands eager to take their products, services and capital to global markets - that of course includes Indonesia.
Equally important, we are the gateway for global business looking to Mainland markets. For good reason, starting with our tax system, which is low and blessedly uncomplicated. It helps, too, that we maintain a common law system underpinned by an independent judiciary and that intellectual property is rigorously protected.
Indeed, Hong Kong has been named the world's freest economy for each of the past 21 years by the Washington-based Heritage Foundation. Three days ago, the Fraser Institute again ranked Hong Kong number one in the world in terms of economic freedom.
We are a very open and welcoming society. We believe in the free flow of people and information. We subscribe to a level playing field for business, wherever that business comes from. Nearly 7,600 overseas and Mainland Chinese companies are based in Hong Kong. The government does not compete with you. The government does not own businesses in Hong Kong to compete with businesses whether they are local or foreign.
The Hong Kong market is equally attractive, offering global business nearly 70 million consumers - our own 7 million residents, together with the nearly 61 million visitors we welcomed last year - most of those, of course, from the Mainland of China. Many of them come to Hong Kong for shopping, closely following our trends in style and fashion. Therefore, I can assure you, what sells well in Hong Kong will sell well in the whole of China. That's why sometimes, tongue-in-cheek and among friends, I will say, give Hong Kong some free samples and we promote them for you.
I should add that, while the Mainland's recent economic challenges have been well publicised, its economy is still growing at a rate most of the world would gladly, enthusiastically, embrace.
Our "one country, two systems" arrangement gives us advantages no other economy can hope to match. When you are in Hong Kong, you are of course in China - a market with tremendous potential. And, thanks to our "one country, two systems" arrangement, we share with our international business partners, and that definitely includes our Indonesian partners, the benefits and the convenience of, so to speak, "the other system".
Consider, for example, CEPA, our free-trade pact with the Mainland. CEPA, namely the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with the Mainland, promises Hong Kong companies, and their products and services, preferential treatment in Mainland Chinese markets. Indonesian investors can enjoy the same benefits. Set up manufacturing operations in Hong Kong, produce goods that meet CEPA origin rules, and your products enter the Mainland of China, tariff-free. Or simply partner with a Hong Kong company to realise all that CEPA can offer you and your products and services.
Then there's China's 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. I'm pleased to note that it was right here, in Jakarta, nearly two years ago, that President Xi Jinping of China announced the Silk Road's launch. Together with the Silk Road Economic Belt - known as the "Belt and Road" - they cover the major economic corridors of Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, Central Asia, Eurasia and Europe.
The "Belt and Road" promises much, including policy co-ordination, infrastructural connectivity, unimpeded trade and investment, deeper financial integration and stronger bonds among countries along the "Belt and Road" way.
We have much to offer. As China's international financial centre, and the world's Chinese financial capital, Hong Kong boasts the experience, the expertise and the connections to serve as the "Belt and Road" fundraising and financial management hub.
Hong Kong's financing options range from public offerings and loan syndication to private equity funds and the raising of funds through Islamic finance.
It's worth noting that Hong Kong issued two sukuk over the past year, each with a size of US$1 billion, each listed concurrently in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Dubai. Both acquired multiple rates of over-subscription, allocated to more than 100 global institutional investors in the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the United States.
Their success confirms that Hong Kong has the legal, regulatory and taxation framework necessary for sukuk issuance, that we can offer financing options for Islamic economies, corporations and investors along the "Belt and Road".
And it's not just Islamic finance. We are the world's largest offshore Renminbi centre. Indeed, the Renminbi may well be the best illustration of Hong Kong's "super-connector" role between the Mainland and the rest of the world. Through cross-border trade, direct investment and portfolio investment, Hong Kong links offshore and onshore Renminbi markets, promoting the healthy circulation, and development, of Renminbi funds.
The development to date has certainly been promising. Last year, Renminbi trade settlement handled by banks in Hong Kong reached RMB6.3 trillion, up 63 per cent, year on year. We have, as well, the world's largest offshore pool of Renminbi liquidity.
Our Renminbi financing activities are also buoyant, the amount of outstanding Renminbi loans increasing from RMB116 billion at the end of 2013 to RMB188 billion at the end of 2014, an increase of 62 per cent in a year. I am sure Indonesian and ASEAN businesses will find our services in Renminbi convenient and efficient.
More than financial know-how, Hong Kong is blessed with an enviable pool of multicultural and multi-talented professionals. Their expertise runs from accounting, law and architecture to infrastructural management, engineering and logistics, the latter covering both maritime services and air cargo. Indeed, Hong Kong is home to about 14,000 logistics companies, most serving the trade between China and the world, all adept at providing customised supply chain solutions for global companies. For your company.
There is no need to wait until tomorrow. Today's opportunity is right here, right now, at "In Style•Hong Kong." For making it possible - for bringing Indonesian and Hong Kong business together, for bringing me here, to the great global city of Jakarta - my thanks to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have no doubt that the relationships between Hong Kong and Indonesia will continue to grow and flourish. As I have announced yesterday, Hong Kong will soon establish a Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta, which will be our government official representation here and which is warmly welcomed by the Indonesian Government. We only have Economic and Trade Offices in 11 other foreign cities so far. And the last time we opened a new Economic and Trade Office was six years ago. That's how important Indonesia is to Hong Kong. The Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta will help promote the bilateral relations between Hong Kong and Indonesia to our mutual benefit. I am confident that with the establishment of a new Economic and Trade Office here, Hong Kong's bilateral relationship with Indonesia and ASEAN will reach new heights.
On this positive and promising note, I look forward to even closer co-operation between Indonesia and Hong Kong on government, economic, cultural and community levels. Thank you.
Ends/Thursday, September 17, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:12
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MP4 format