Chinese New Year Reception in Munich - Hong Kong Economic and ...

Lunar New Year Reception
in Munich
10 March 2010
Welcome Remarks by Stephen Kai Wong
Director, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Affairs
Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Mr Driessen, Consul General Ma, Ladies and Gentlemen,
On behalf of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(HKSARG), I would like to welcome you all to celebrate with us the Lunar New Year
in Munich.
I am particularly honoured to host a Chinese New Reception in Munich for the first
time and have Mr Peter Driessen, Chief Executive Officer, Chamber of Industry and
Commerce for Munich and Upper Bavaria, as the Guest of Honour; as well as the
presence of Mr Ma Jinsheng, Consul General of the Peoples’ Republic of China.
In Hong Kong, we celebrate festivals from both the East and the West. That is why
we had 17 public holidays in Hong Kong a year, three of which are for the Lunar New
Year. In mainland China, the first of January each year has been officially marked as
the New Year since 1949, and the Lunar New Year is officially known as the Spring
Festival, indicating the start of spring. We celebrate two new years in one country.
Last year was an important year for my office, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade
Office, Berlin, (HKETO, Berlin) because we commenced operation in Berlin in
March 2009. HKETO, Berlin is the first Economic and Trade Office set up by the
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government since the
reunification 13 years ago. Since the commencement of operation of the Hong Kong
Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), Berlin in March 2009, the bilateral relations
between Hong Kong and Germany has made good progress.
Over the last 12 months in Berlin, my colleagues and I had a very solid year. It has
been a period of inspiration, aspiration, training and learning whilst we tried our best
to satisfy the responsibilities and discharge our duties as the representative office of
the HKSARG. Certainly, we have also learned how to cope with losing more than
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10 public holidays that we enjoyed back in Hong Kong.
Differences aside, we in HKETO, Berlin have managed to take on board similarities
and common grounds, on which we also base the mission of the new office.
Arranging officials and delegations to visit Hong Kong so that they can see for
themselves how the principle of “One Country, Two Systems” works in Hong Kong is,
as I always believe, the best way to showcase Hong Kong. In October 2008, Mr
Michael Glos, at that time Federal Minister of Economics and Technology, visited
Hong Kong. Since then, other leading government officials from both, federal and
state level, business delegations and representatives of notable institutions followed.
Reciprocal visits from Hong Kong to this part of Europe included ministerial visits
made by Hong Kong’s Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K
C Chan, in Frankfurt last November; the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, Mrs
Carrie Yau; the Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr
Gregory So to the Frankfurt Book Fair. They met with their counterparts in the
government, the cultural and creative sectors, the financial as well as commercial
sectors in Frankfurt, including the President of European Central Bank.
Since the setup of the office in March 2009, HKETO, Berlin has organised and
participated in different activities to promote the bilateral relations between Hong
Kong and Germany, including business seminars in Berlin and Hamburg, networking
receptions as at this year’s Berlinale film festival, senior officials'visits to and from
Hong Kong, media briefings, and cultural performances such as on occasion of the
Asia-Pacific Weeks in Berlin 2009.
For Hong Kong, 2009 was a year of great change and challenge. Being an
international financial centre, Hong Kong was not immune from the global financial
crisis. Hong Kong has been fortunate enough to tie over well and has not
experienced any systemic failures. The US-based Heritage Foundation rated Hong
Kong again as the world’s freest economy for the 16 th year in a row. And in terms of
competitiveness, we ranked number two again behind the US in the 2009 IMD World
Competitiveness Yearbook. Almost all the analysis points to our unique style of
market economy; wide ranging personal freedoms including the free flow of
information, talent and ideas; and the common law legal system guarded by an
independent judiciary, manned by a mature legal profession and trusted by the world.
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The Financial Secretary of Hong Kong just announced the 2010 – 11 Budget last
month, which details our economy’s performance of 2009. The Budget forecasts a
larger than expected surplus of about EUR 1.3 billion for 2009-10. HKSAR’s fiscal
reserve will stand at about EUR48 billions by end of March 2010. For 2010-11, the
budget forecasts a deficit of about EUR 2.4 billions. After four straight quarters of
negative growth, Hong Kong’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 2.6% in
the fourth quarter of 2009. The forecast GDP growth for 2010 is 4 to 5%.
Despite our resilience, the financial downturn has prompted us to consider the shift of
economic power from the West to the East and the increasing weight of Asia, in
particular China. Therefore, being the gateway to China, Hong Kong has intensified
its economic relations with the mainland. In 2009, we became the first place outside
the mainland of China where cross-boundary trade may be settled by using the RMB,
and where the central government issued RMB bonds. We commenced the
construction of the 29.6 km main bridge of the Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge,
a project which Hong Kong will contribute EUR 600 millions. Another major
project, the Hong Kong-Guangzhou Express Rail Link, will reduce the present 2-hour
journey to less than 50 minutes, and put Hong Kong onto the national map of
350km-an-hour high-speed railways. We have also signed a Memorandum of
Understanding to advance financial co-operation with Shanghai for the financial
development of China.
The global financial crisis has also galvanized our thinking on economic
diversification. In his 2009-10 Policy Address, the Chief Executive of the HKSAR
highlighted six promising industries where Hong Kong enjoys competitive advantages,
i.e. education services, medical services, testing and certification, environmental
industries, innovation and technology, and cultural and creative industries. These
industries will complement our four pillar industries of financial services, professional
services, trading and logistics, and tourism, which will jointly form a sustainable base
for economic growth.
So much for last year. How about the Year of the Tiger? Tigers are dynamic,
attractive, lively, sociable, enthusiastic, intelligent, alert and optimistic. All in all,
tigers are vibrant and full of energy. Magnetic and passionate – when the Tiger does
everything. This is the most appropriate description of the “can-do” spirit of Hong
Kong which is to create and look for opportunities, grasping them at the best possible
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time. This will continue to inspire and guide us as we embrace the new changes and
challenges ahead in 2010.
If you were born in the year of the Tiger like Beethoven, Karl Marx, Marco Polo,
Marilyn Monroe, Stevie Wonder, Tom Cruise, or Queen Elizabeth II, the horoscope of
Chinese zodiac says financially everything improves this year.
As you know, the World Expo will open in few months’ time. I would like to invite
all of you to visit Hong Kong personally, in particular after or before you have visited
the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai where Hong Kong will have a strong presence.
So come and visit our Pavilion in Shanghai this summer.
Last but not least, I wish you all a promising Year of the Tiger ahead, like the
traditional Chinese New Year greetings at the side of the stage says: “everything
comes better than you wish”.
Thank you.
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