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Ireland's Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Mr Tom Kitt, in Dublin today (February 24, Dublin time) praised Hong Kong's bilateral co-operation with Ireland.
The minister was speaking at a luncheon attended by 200 Irish businessmen and officials and co-organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels, to celebrate Chinese New Year.
Mr Kitt, who is also the Irish Government's Chief Whip, said Ireland's exports to Hong Kong for the last year amounted to about 641 million euro, reflecting the strong levels of trade between Ireland and Hong Kong.?Many Irish companies have seen the opportunities offered there for sales of goods and services.
"A number of our indigenous companies in the financial services software sector, for instance, have been very active in developing sales in Hong Kong," he said.
Mr Kitt said that as for so many countries, Hong Kong played a valuable role in helping Ireland gain access to the Mainland, thanks to its cross-cultural expertise.
"I would also like to mention that Ireland and Hong Kong co-operate on EU issues as well," he said.
Both places have very open and globalised economies and their world perspective means that they share an interest in matters pertaining to the World Trade Organization, and in particular, a successful outcome of the Doha Round.?In this regard, Mr Kitt congratulated Hong Kong on its superb management of last December's WTO ministerial conference.?He said the delegation of three Irish ministers had been "extremely impressed" with the HKSAR Government's manner of hosting the conference.
"I would wish to commend the very definite and skilled contribution of the Chairman of the Conference, John Tsang, who played a leading role in this achievement."
"Hong Kong lived up to its worldwide reputation as a vital logistics hub. Expertise in logistics matters was self-evident in the superb organisational arrangements that were put in place and executed."
Hong Kong's acting Special Representative for Economic and Trade Affairs to the European Communities, Ms Shirley Lam, said that Hong Kong's economy had performed exceedingly well in 2005.?"The Financial Secretary had announced in his Budget speech that we achieved a GDP growth of 7.3% in 2005, and the economy was expected to grow by 4 to 5% this year," she said.
The third phase of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) had just entered into force in January and all goods produced in Hong Kong could now access the Mainland market tariff-free, in parallel with a liberalisation of services.
"'One Country, Two Systems'?is not just a concept.?It really works," Ms Lam said.
Ms Lam said that 23 million people had visited Hong Kong in 2005, with arrivals from Europe alone up by 22%.
"AsiaWorld-Expo, which was set to stage several major international exhibitions this year, would be an additional draw for business visitors, while Hong Kong Disneyland would be a magnet for families," she said.
The luncheon was the last of a series of Chinese New Year events organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Brussels in 14 major European cities.?Ms Lam addressed a total of some 3,000 guests, including members of the European institutions, government officials, businessmen, academics and the media in Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, The Hague and Vienna.?The Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, was the guest of honour at a reception in Brussels.
Ends/Saturday, February 25, 2006
Issued at HKT 10:05
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