Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Sydney celebrates Year of the Dog in Australia and New Zealand (with photos)
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Speaking at the Chinese New Year reception in Sydney today (February 23), the Director of the HKETO, Mr Raymond Fan, said Hong Kong, as the best-connected city in the world, facilitates the movement of millions of people every year through its premium land, air and sea crossings.
"Hong Kong's international airport is one of the busiest in the world for passengers and cargo. We run more than 1,100 flights a day to over 220 destinations. In 2017 alone, our airport processed more than 72 million passengers," he said.
"There are major land crossings between Hong Kong and Mainland China and we are making quantum leaps in expanding this network with the three soon-to-be commissioned major pieces of cross-boundary infrastructure.
"The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will cut the travelling time between Zhuhai and the Kwai Chung Container Terminals from nearly four hours to just over one hour. The travelling time between Zhuhai and Hong Kong International Airport will also be reduced from four hours to about 45 minutes," Mr Fan said.
"Better still, transporting people to and from the thriving economies around Hong Kong will be easier than ever before with the addition of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, which will see the travel time to Guangzhou slashed to a mere 48 minutes."
Adding to this is a new boundary crossing - the seventh land boundary control point, located at Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai - which will greatly enhance connections between Hong Kong and the eastern part of Shenzhen.
"The expanding network of cross-boundary transport infrastructure will boost Hong Kong's links within the prosperous Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area, which will open up co-operation, trade and people-to-people connections in Asia like never before," Mr Fan said.
The Bay Area has an estimated GDP of US$1.4 trillion - comparable to Australia's GDP - and a population of nearly 70 million.
He said Hong Kong, as the single biggest economy in the Bay Area, would be the key driver of integration and connectivity, creating favourable conditions for promoting innovation and technology development as well as discovering new business opportunities for Australian and New Zealand companies.
The Chinese New Year reception in Sydney today to celebrate the Year of the Dog was co-hosted by the HKETO, the HKTDC, InvestHK and the Hong Kong-Australia Business Association. The reception was attended by more than 300 guests comprising business, community and political leaders.
Apart from the Sydney reception, HKETO has co-hosted Chinese New Year receptions in Perth (February 13) and Adelaide (February 15), and two more events will be held in Melbourne (February 26) and Brisbane (March 6).
For New Zealand, the HKETO will co-host a Chinese New Year reception with the HKTDC, InvestHK and the Hong Kong-New Zealand Business Association in Auckland on February 28.
Ends/Friday, February 23, 2018
Issued at HKT 18:13
Issued at HKT 18:13
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