At two high-level business events in Warsaw and Frankfurt from October 5 to 7, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Berlin (HKETO Berlin) presented the unique opportunities that come along with China's Belt and Road Initiative. The Initiative means more than just reviving the traditional Silk Road that linked up Asia and Europe, with the advance in technologies and economic development, it will bring about ample business opportunities for Polish and German companies.
      
     HKETO Berlin organised a business seminar together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland and the Polish Chamber of Commerce in Warsaw on October 5 (Warsaw time) to introduce the Belt and Road Initiative and its impact for Central and Eastern European businesses. Invited as the keynote speaker of the seminar, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Productivity Council and member of the Hong Kong Logistics Development Council, Mr Willy Lin, highlighted the immense dimensions and outreach of the Initiative, which covers 65 countries stretching from the Western Pacific to the Baltic Sea and jointly accounting for 62.3 per cent, 30 per cent and 24 per cent of the world's population, Gross Domestic Product and household consumption.
      
     Mr Lin outlined in particular the infrastructure development for road, rail, air and sea linkages as well as technology and communication, sectors from which Polish companies could benefit. "Companies interested in investing in areas along the Belt and Road can make use of the Hong Kong platform and select partners and projects easily", he noted. With its well-defined legal system and cosmopolitan business environment, the city is the perfect starting point to reach out to the Asian parts of the new Silk Road.
      
     Mr Lin also spoke at EXCHAiNGE, the international business conference for supply chain and operation professionals in Frankfurt on October 7 (Frankfurt time), of which HKETO Berlin is the official co-operation partner. With logistics and supply chain management as the focus of the conference, the Belt and Road Initiative naturally became a major topic of the event. At the conference, Mr Lin, other experts and business leaders shared how the modern-day Silk Road will change global supply chains. Integrating the economies of Asia and Europe, with Germany leading the way, will unlock huge potential for European companies.
      
     "Hong Kong has taken an active role in realising opportunities under the Belt and Road Initiative. As an international financial centre, a lot of investments in and out of China are made through Hong Kong", Mr Lin concluded.
      
About the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin
      
     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 Poland, Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Ends/Monday, October 10, 2016
Issued at HKT 20:34

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