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In addition to being Japan¡¯s top export market for food and agricultural products, Hong Kong is an important transportation hub and international trading centre which Tokushima companies could take advantage of to develop their business in southern China and other parts of Asia, the Principal Hong Kong Economic and Trade Representative in Japan, Mrs Jennie Chok, said today (May 22) at a dinner with top government officials and business leaders in Tokushima Prefecture.
Noting that Hong Kong is one of the world¡¯s busiest ports, she said about 460 container vessels from 500 destinations worldwide called on Hong Kong every week, carrying containers amounting to 24 million TEUs in and out of Hong Kong in 2007.
¡°Hong Kong International Airport, which has been voted the best in the world for six out of the last seven years, has been the world¡¯s top airport for international cargo since it opened in 1998, and is currently served by some 90 international airlines connecting Hong Kong with about 160 destinations worldwide,¡± Mrs Chok said.
¡°These have helped Hong Kong maintain its competitiveness as an international trading centre with a trade volume that is about three-and-a-half times the value of its gross domestic product,¡± she added.
Mrs Chok encouraged Tokushima industries that target the global market to participate in the large-scale international trade fairs in Hong Kong.
She also assured the guests that all those institutions, such as Hong Kong¡¯s legal system, low tax regime and clean government, as well as values, including the commitment to free trade and free competition, which made Hong Kong successful have remained unchanged since the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997.
Mrs Chok also took the opportunity to invite Tokushima residents to visit Hong Kong to share the Olympic spirit in Hong Kong, which will be staging the equestrian events of the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Among the leaders of Tokushima attending the dinner were Governor of Tokushima, Mr Kamon Iizumi; Mayor of Tokushima, Mr Hideki Hara; and Chairman of the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Tokushima Prefecture, Mr Hiroaki Kondo.
Ends/Thursday, May 22, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:00
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