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The Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, delivered a keynote speech today (September 25, Dusseldorf time) at the "Hong Kong Dialogue" in Dusseldorf, a conference co-organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin) together with the leading German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche. The exclusive event was visited by about 100 decision makers of German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The day before, Mr Tsang visited the Port of Duisburg, a major economic hub in Germany and the ending point of the Yuxinou (Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe) freight railway together with a high-level business delegation from Hong Kong.
In his speech, Mr Tsang highlighted the business and investment opportunities that could be generated under the "Belt and Road" initiative and the role Hong Kong may play when participating in this initiative, "The Belt-Road will trigger soaring investment in infrastructural facilities. It will deepen financial integration, expand the flow of trade and the building of people-to-people bonds on a global scale. And Hong Kong will help make it happen, thanks to the unique advantages presented by our 'one country, two systems' arrangement, under which Hong Kong maintains our own social and economic systems, while being part of China."
Mr Tsang's keynote was followed by a speech by Mr Lionel Souque, Member of the Board of German retailer REWE, the mother company of buying organisation REWE Far East located in Hong Kong. Mr Souque explained the benefits of REWE's Hong Kong office which laid the cornerstone for growth in procurement volume, the assurance of uniform quality standards and the evolvement of joint strategic partnerships with the suppliers from the East Asia and Pacific region.
In the subsequent panel discussion, the Chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Mr Chow Chung-kong; the Chairman of Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, Mr John Slosar; and the Chief Representative of BASF China, a German chemicals company, Mr Jörg Wuttke, discussed opportunities and risks for German SMEs when exploring business opportunities under the "Belt and Road" initiative. The Deputy Director of the Research Area on Innovation, Environment and Economy at German think tank Mercator Institute for China Studies, Mr Mikko Huotari, also joined the discussion moderated by the editor of WirtschaftsWoche,
Mr Matthias Kamp.
The event closed with a Get-Together that invited participants to exchange experiences and establish further contacts.
About Hong Kong-German economic relations
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Germany is Hong Kong's largest trading partner in Europe and ranked 10th among Hong Kong's trading partners in the world. Bilateral trade amounted to some EUR 14 billion in 2014. Hong Kong also played a significant role in the trade between the Mainland of China and Germany, with about 6.5 percent of the trade routed through Hong Kong, amounting to some EUR 8.6 billion.
About Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin
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HKETO Berlin is the official Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Germany as well as Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Ends/Saturday, September 26, 2015
Issued at HKT 00:46
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