The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin) joined forces with the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to host a business seminar in Budapest on December 5 (Budapest time). Themed "Hong Kong as a gateway to China – opportunities for Hungarian businesses in the Greater Bay Area", the seminar saw speakers from Hong Kong and Hungary elaborate on the advantages Hong Kong has to offer for Hungarian companies.
      
     At the business seminar, the Director of HKETO Berlin and official representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) to Hungary, Mr Bill Li, highlighted what distinguishes Hong Kong from other business locations in Asia. The city has earned top spots in various rankings all over the world that identify the freest and most competitive economies.  The Canadian Fraser Institute and the US Heritage Foundation have identified the city as the freest economy in the world for decades. Switzerland’s International Institute for Management Development ranked Hong Kong as the second most competitive economy worldwide in 2018, and the World Economic Forum has Hong Kong at the seventh position in its Global Competitiveness Report 2018.
      
     "The 'one country, two systems' principle and our rule of law provide the basis for Hong Kong's economic success, supported by a simple and low taxation system and a level playing field," Mr Li explained. The Head of Investment Promotion at HKETO Berlin, Dr Chung Wing-hin, added that the two-tier tax system is “designed with a very favourable 8.25 per cent tax for the first HK$2 million of profit only, and a 16.5 per cent tax for profits above”.
      
     Striding ahead, Hong Kong is developing into a hub for innovation and technology in Asia. At the seminar, the Head of the Department for Digital Economy and Innovation at the Hungarian Ministry for Innovation and Technology, Dr Antal Nikodémus, highlighted the importance of co-operation between both economies to create synergies and help foster economic growth. Subsequently, Ms Esztella Farkas of Bay Zoltán Nonprofit Ltd. for Applied Research, an institute aiming to contribute to the competitiveness and efficiency of Hungarian companies, presented strategies for knowledge-based businesses from Hungary to participate in and benefit from the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s development strategy in which Hong Kong plays an active role.

     Hong Kong is also making substantial progress in boosting its connectivity and economic integration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, a 1,106-square-kilometre area comprising the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao as well as nine municipalities in the southern Chinese Guangdong Province, with a population of nearly 70 million inhabitants and a GDP of over US$1.5 trillion. With the recently opened Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Hong Kong’s connectivity has been greatly enhanced within the Greater Bay Area and the whole of China. Being the most open and international city in the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong remains the perfect springboard for Hungarian companies to start or extend business activities in China and Asia.
 
About HKETO Berlin
 
     HKETO Berlin is the official Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Hungary as well as Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Ends/Thursday, December 6, 2018
Issued at HKT 21:28

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