SCED Promotes Hong Kong in North America

Business leaders, students, academics and politicians were the focus of a recent North American visit by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr. Frederick Ma.

Between November 5 and 12, Mr. Ma visited San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Toronto and Vancouver. At each stop, Mr. Ma’s message communicated Hong Kong’s economic strength, its political stability following the successful implementation of “One Country, Two Systems”, the city’s unique role in China’s economic development and the myriad opportunities presented by the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA).

In San Francisco, Mr. Ma addressed a conference organized by that city’s Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office and promoted Hong Kong’s status as a premier business hub in Asia to key business leaders.

While in Washington, Mr. Ma met with government officials, including US Trade Representative Ambassador Susan C. Schwab and Congressman Rick Larsen of the state of Washington. He also had a meeting with First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Mr. John Lipsky and spoke at a lunch hosted by Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA, Miss Margaret Fong.

At Georgetown University Mr. Ma addressed students with the McDonough School of Business, which offers summer programmes in collaboration with the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Mr. Ma wrapped up his visit to the US capitol with a breakfast roundtable hosted by the US-China Business Council and a meeting with Congressman Wally Herger of California. 

Mr. Ma’s Toronto visit marked his first to Canada as Hong Kong's top trade official. Speaking at a number of venues, he took the opportunity to urge Canadian business people to make full use of the well-established Hong Kong-Canada links to take advantage of the tremendous potential in Mainland China. These included a roundtable of business association leaders and senior Canadian government officials, and a business luncheon jointly organized by the Empire Club and the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association and supported by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Canada, where his keynote speech focused on Hong Kong’s “New Direction”, as established by the Chief Executive, Mr. Donald Tsang.

He encouraged Canadian enterprises to bid for infrastructure projects in Hong Kong, and to consider the potential for expansion in the Asia-Pacific region. Listing Hong Kong’s many strengths as a business and financial hub, Mr. Ma added, “Who else, if not Hong Kong, can you count on in your China plan?"

In a meeting with Federal Health Minister, Tony Clement, Mr. Ma discussed product safety issues and reiterated his commitment to educating consumers and installing a proper regulatory system. Overseas Hong Kong students formed another Toronto audience for Mr. Ma, whose well-attended "Meet-the-Students" session welcomed young people from six of the largest universities in Ontario. 

Mr Ma’s last stop was Vancouver, where he met with Canada's Minister of International Trade, the Hon. David Emerson, who will lead a Canadian trade delegation to Hong Kong next January. 

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