Principal Hong Kong Economic and Trade Representative in Tokyo, Miss Cheung Man-yee, today (February 5) called on Hong Kong and Hokkaido to build up further strategic partnership in the IT and telecommunications sectors.
Speaking at a business seminar held for the first time in Hokkaido by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Tokyo, Miss Cheung said Sapporo had gained a reputation among IT specialists and investment bank analysts as a city that "boasts a new start-up of IT venture companies".
"Entrepreneurs have settled in the city, brushed up their IT skills, and established businesses of their own.
"There are so many enclaves of IT related ventures that they have collectively been dubbed ´Sapporo Valley' as Japan's ´Silicon Valley'," she said.
"With your expertise and strong influence in IT, we would like to see an even greater presence from Hokkaido in our high-tech development."
Miss Cheung said Hong Kong's flagship IT project, the Cyberport, was designed to provide the necessary infrastructure to create a strategic cluster of IT companies and to form a critical mass of IT professional talents.
She said the first stage of the Cyberport would be ready early in 2002, but already some of the world's top New Economy businesses had signed on as anchor tenants, including Microsoft, Cisco, IBM, Nokia, Ericsson and Softbank.
Turning to China's impending entry into the World Trade Organisation, Miss Cheung said there were forecasts that within six years, China's foreign trade and foreign investment would double and its GDP was estimated to be 13 per cent higher than otherwise by 2010, implying an additional annual growth of one percentage point.
"Our analysis also points out that as the Mainland economy transforms into a more liberalised and transparent regime, Hong Kong's services sector stands in a good position to capture the business opportunities so arise.
"In particular, Hong Kong possesses the competitive edge in tapping into the Mainland market in the areas of distributive trade, banking, finance, insurance, telecommunications and tourism," she said.
Miss Cheung said there was a growing confidence in Hong Kong's economic recovery and the positive investment climate in China over the next five years, as reflected by the latest business survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
"The survey also indicates that not only will most AmCham member companies maintain their regional headquarters and expand their operations in Hong Kong, Hong Kong will also benefit from the expected increase in their investment in the Mainland with WTO membership," she said.
About 350 official as well as business and industry leaders in Sapporo and other parts of Hokkaido attended today's seminar which was the latest of a series of large-scale seminars being organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Tokyo at major cities throughout Japan.
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| From left: Mr Stephen Mak, Director - Japan, Hong Kong Trade Development Council; Miss Cheung Man-yee, Principal Hong Kong Economic and Trade Representative in Tokyo; the Hon. Selina Chow, Chairman of Hong Kong Tourist Association and Mr. Kunio Kano, Regional Director - Japan and Korea, Hong Kong Tourist Association at the business seminar in Sapporo today (February 5). |
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| From left: The Hon. Selina Chow, Chairman of Hong Kong Tourist Association; Mr. Nobuo Katsura, Mayor of Sapporo City; Miss Cheung Man-yee, Principal Hong Kong Economic and Trade Representative in Tokyo; Mr. Sun Ping, Consular General of China in Sapporo and Miss Vivian Lau, Miss Hong Kong at a reception after the business seminar in Sapporo today (February 5) |
source: hk economic and trade office, tokyo
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