**********************************************************
The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels, together with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, organised a business seminar in Bucharest today (March 19, Bucharest time) to encourage Romanian businessmen to seize the opportunities offered by Hong Kong. The event was well attended by over 150 representatives of the local business community.
In her opening remarks, the Special Representative for Hong Kong Economic and Trade Affairs to the European Union, Miss Mary Chow, presented Hong Kong's enduring advantages as the world's freest economy with the rule of law, a stringent intellectual property protection regime, strong anti-corruption culture, free flow of information and low and simple taxation system.
She said that Hong Kong is the largest investor in the Mainland of China and experienced in the Mainland's culture and procedures. Now Hong Kong is also China's off-shore renminbi centre and Mainland enterprises raise capital through Hong Kong's stock market.
Miss Chow said that in addition to boosting the four traditional pillars of Hong Kong's economy, the Government had also identified six new economic sectors where Hong Kong enjoyed a competitive edge, namely testing and certification services, medical services, innovation and technology, cultural and creative industries, environmental industries and educational services.
"Hong Kong has maintained a level playing field and we certainly welcome Romanian investment in these areas. Foreign companies established in Hong Kong are treated on an equal footing with our own enterprises. They can benefit, for example, from our free trade agreement with the Mainland, the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement or CEPA.
"The wine trade is also an area where opportunities abound for Romanian companies," Miss Chow said.
Senior Investment Promotion Executive, Mr Siegfried Verstappen, explained how business opportunities in the Asia Pacific region could be attained through investment in Hong Kong and the assistance that InvestHK, Hong Kong's investment promotion agency, could offer to Romanian investors.
Other speakers included Budapest Consultant of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Mr Laslo Meszaros; Superior Counsellor of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and the Business Environment, Ms Anca-Rodica Turcea; and General Manager of Sover Optica Shops S.R.L., Mr Dorin Nicolae Badiu. Mr Badiu, who is an importer and retailer of spectacles and medical equipment, shared his experience of doing business with Hong Kong. The presentations were followed by a lively question-and-answer session.
Ends/Friday, March 19, 2010
Issued at HKT 18:21
NNNN