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The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, officiated at the opening session of the SmartHK fair in Jinan, Shandong Province, today (May 27).
Delivering a speech at the opening session, Mr So said, "As a highly internationalised city, Hong Kong can make use of its rich marketing experience and mature and stable financial market as well as its sound system of modern service industry to serve Mainland enterprises in various provinces and provide them with information, experience, networks and professional supporting services to tie in with their strategy to transform, upgrade and 'go global'."
He said the Central Government had announced the objective of basic liberalisation of trade in services between the Mainland and Hong Kong by the end of the National 12th Five-Year Plan period through the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between the Mainland and Hong Kong. The opening up of the Mainland market for Hong Kong's service industry is conducive to the development of Hong Kong service providers in the Mainland.
"Hong Kong has an abundance of professionals and talents who possess ample experience in the Mainland and overseas markets. With its quality product designs and reliable testing and certification services, Hong Kong can help Mainland enterprises enhance their competitiveness and adapt to the fast-evolving and developing market environment in order to foster their long-term development," Mr So added.
Mr So also toured the fair and visited the exhibition booths set up by Hong Kong enterprises to learn about their business situation.
The two-day SmartHK fair is showcasing Hong Kong's full range of business support services that help Mainland enterprises to transform and upgrade. Visitors from local enterprises can obtain first-hand information on Hong Kong's service industry through three thematic exhibition zones, namely "Innovative Design and Marketing", "Technological Advancement" and "Management Upgrading".
Mr So will return to Hong Kong this afternoon.
Ends/Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Issued at HKT 12:47
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