"Go West" Investor Boost for HK in May

Hong Kong can grasp great development opportunities in the country's 'go west' drive, said Bowen Leung, director of the SAR's Beijing office.

He was speaking as the SAR prepares to send its largest-ever business mission to the mainland in late May. The focus of the 200-strong mission of leading business people will be on West China.

Noting that Hong Kong's prosperity owes much to China's 20-year-old reform and opening-up policy, Leung declared: "We shall not miss the second opportunity presented by the 'go west' strategy."

Hong Kong can make full use of its advantages in capital and the service sector in developing the west, he said.

Apart from investing in a variety of manufacturing industries, Hong Kong is able to provide services with world-class quality in the finance, accounting, securities and consultancy fields, according to the SAR official.

The SAR government has already tried its best to pave the way for business circles to tap the vast western markets. Led by the new Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang, the delegation to the mainland in late May will consist of bosses from Hong Kong's 50 biggest enterprises. They will tour Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, all in western China.

The SAR government will invite representatives from the other nine provinces or regions in the west - both business people and local government officials - to Beijing. In the capital, the Hong Kong delegates will meet them at the first stop of the 10-day trip.

However, Leung advised the Hong Kong business people to be fully aware of the difficulties involved in development of the western regions.

"The western areas are an enormous stretch of land larger than Europe ," said Leung. "The task will take several decades , or generations , to achieve."

He pointed out that the most pressing problem the western areas face is its backward infrastructure and a lack of convenient transport system.

Commenting on some complaints about the inconvenience in doing business in these areas, Leung attributed it to the lack of experience on he part of the western areas in dealing with the outside world.

He expressed his confidence that as the west opens wider and learns more about international practices, the problems concerning project application procedures, efficiency of local governments and fulfilment of commitments will be solved.

Actually, the western provinces have already made efforts to improve the investment environment, he said , citing the example that in some provinces and regions , governments have simplified project approval procedures by bringing different departments to work together in one place.

Also a better understanding between the mainland and Hong Kong is the key for mutual prosperity. That is what the SAR's Beijing office is working for, he said.






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