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Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, at a luncheon hosted by Regional Council of Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrénées Region in Toulouse, France, today (June 7, Toulouse time):
Mrs Delga (President of Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrénées Region, Mrs Carole Delga), Vice Presidents, Consul-General (Consul-General of France in Hong Kong and Macau, Mr Eric Berti), ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. It's a great pleasure to be here with you today in Toulouse, where history, heritage and enduring culture thrive alongside cutting-edge technology in aerospace and aviation. Few cities can be so blessed.
I just arrived from Hong Kong, via Paris, fresh this morning. And I'm not alone. With me on this three-day tour in Toulouse and Paris are our Secretaries for Transport and Housing and Innovation and Technology. Our delegation's composition fairly reflects our interests in this visit. So, too, do the 19 Hong Kong university students, there and there. All of them are from engineering - aerospace, mechanical engineering, electronic and communication engineering.
Our time here may be short, but there is a great deal we can accomplish. Relations between Hong Kong and France have long rewarded both sides, whether in business, technology, culture, or any other aspect of life.
You can see that French joie de vivre. Today, more than 12 000 French nationals registered with the Consulate are living and working in Hong Kong. About 800 French companies maintain offices, and in just about every sector and industry, from banking and financial services to retail, luxury goods, food and wine.
No surprise, then, that the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the largest European chamber in Hong Kong, with more than 1 000 members. In the words of the French newsweekly Le Point, Hong Kong is "the new French village". Indeed, some 550 festive spirits attended the Chamber's 30th anniversary gala dinner that took place less than two weeks ago.
So many French companies and French nationals call Hong Kong home, because Hong Kong is where they want to be in Asia.
There are, indeed, compelling reasons to settle in Hong Kong. We have been named by the Heritage Foundation the world's freest economy for the past 22 years in a row, and the world's most competitive economy by Switzerland's International Institute for Management Development. The Hong Kong Government does not own business - there is an open and level playing field for all, irrespective of where you come from. A free business environment, grounded in the rule of law, is a potent attraction. So, too, is our independent judiciary, strong intellectual property protection, the use of English as one of the official and commonly used languages, free flow of capital, information and people.
These are all part of Hong Kong's "one country, two systems" arrangement. It enables Hong Kong to enjoy the combined advantages of both "one country" and "two systems" - to maintain our internationality, while deepening integration with the Mainland of China. Thanks to this unique duality, Hong Kong has grown into a "super-connector" between the Mainland of China and the rest of the world – in finance, trade, commerce, and certainly in transport and logistics.
The Hong Kong International Airport is the world's busiest cargo airport, and the third busiest in international passenger traffic. Our airport handles more than 100 airlines operating over 1 100 flights a day, connecting Hong Kong to some 190 destinations. We are the preferred transit hub for travel to the Mainland of China, to Asia in general and the world beyond. Half the world's population is no more than five hours' flying time from Hong Kong, while all of Asia's key markets are less than four hours' flight away.
And we are moving ahead - with a third runway for Hong Kong International Airport. Building the new runway, together with related facilities, is almost like building a new airport. Construction is expected to get going before year's end, and will complete in eight years. We will certainly gain insights from Toulouse Airport - a gateway to southern Europe - when we visit tomorrow.
Alongside hardware, Hong Kong needs world-class aviation talent. We are establishing a civil aviation academy to groom aviation practitioners. Toulouse knows a great deal about that, which is why we look forward to visiting the National School of Civil Aviation - ENAC (Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile) – soon after lunch. We want to see how ENAC, Europe's largest aeronautical university, nurtures tomorrow's industry leaders. And I am sure we will find a good many of them, later today, during our visit to Airbus.
Air transport aside, Hong Kong is a major sea and rail transportation hub. We are blessed with an enviable location - right at the heart of Asia and doorstep of the Mainland of China. Our container port is the world's fifth busiest, and we have some 800 maritime-related companies providing services ranging from ship agency, ship finance, marine insurance, to port management and maritime legal and arbitration services.
Just two months ago, we formed the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board chaired by our Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung. He is here with us, happy to talk to you about our strategy to develop high value-added maritime services, ship business, port industries, collaboration opportunities, and more.
And there is rail transport. We are well into completing our section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. When finished, Hong Kong will "super-connect" to the national high-speed rail network. It is about 10 hours – down from the 24 hours at present – we can get to Beijing, bank door to bank door.
Hong Kong's rail management expertise, I should add, is in demand all over the world. Our mass transit railway corporation, MTRC, runs the metro system in Stockholm, Sweden, as well as London's future Crossrail train service, one of Europe's largest infrastructure projects. Just last month, the MTRC established an academy to train personnel, and to raise the quality of local and regional rail services. Hong Kong is certainly pleased to offer railway management services to France and other parts of the world.
We want to give Hong Kong - especially Hong Kong young people - every opportunity to excel in the 21st century economy. Certainly in aviation, engineering, transport and logistics, but also in the broad sweep of science, research, innovation and technology.
Hong Kong has everything in place to develop I&T as a new economic sector. We have first-rate technological infrastructure, abundant financial resources, a wealth of research talent, and, perhaps more importantly, close connection to the vast market and industrial base in the Mainland of China. That is why the Karolinska Institutet of Sweden, a world-renowned medical and life-science research institution, announced last year the setting up of its first regenerative medicine centre outside of Sweden in Hong Kong. Last year, as well, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced the launch of an Innovation Node - again its first overseas research centre - in Hong Kong.
We are building upon this foundation. This year, the Hong Kong Government invests a massive 2 billion euros to build up an I&T ecosystem, expand technology infrastructure, fund R&D activities and nurture start-up companies. Our Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Nicholas Yang, will share with you the encouraging signs of budding entrepreneurship in Hong Kong. In short, we have become one of the fastest-growing start-up hubs in the world. Speaking of which, I was delighted about the launch of the French Tech hub in Hong Kong less than three months ago. The number of incubations and co-work spaces is also on the rise. And we are seeing more jobs, and burgeoning interest, in I&T industries among the community.
France, of course, enjoys world-class I&T facilities and institutions. I look forward to seeing more of the French experience on my way to Paris in the coming two days - in medical science research, engineering and technological research, and incubator for hardware prototyping start-ups. We welcome collaboration opportunities from France's enterprises, academic and R&D institutions. We can provide the infrastructure, the funding, the talent and the services. And we can help them "super-connect" to the Mainland of China, which is a vast landmass and a vast market.
Our future - Toulouse's and Hong Kong's – is built on maximising opportunities. Opportunities to expand the economy, to groom the future generation, to join forces, and to progress together. So let us seize the opportunities.
Thank you.
Ends/Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Issued at HKT 21:57
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