Press Release - December 1, 2004

Mayor Hazel McCallion of the City of Mississauga today (Wednesday) encouraged Canadian small and medium enterprises to use Hong Kong as a gateway to the flourishing China market, because �by doing so a lot of business risks would be eliminated.�

She said Canadian businesses could enjoy the protection under Hong Kong�s legal system such as the arbitration clause for contracts if the business deals were going through Hong Kong. At the same time, Canada-Hong Kong joint ventures could benefit from the CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Arrangements) -- the landmark free trade agreement between Mainland China and Hong Kong, which provides foreign companies with liberated access to China�s market.

�You would not be able to enjoy all these benefits if you deal directly with China without going through Hong Kong,� Mayor McCallion conveyed the message to Canadian businesses at a media briefing after her 10-day visit to Hong Kong.

The Mayor, who led a12-member �Team Mississauga� trade mission to Hong Kong in November, shared her first-hand experience with Asia�s world city upon her return to Canada. She described her trip as �informative� and a �wonderful experience�. �I got an excellent picture of how Hong Kong now relates to China after 1997,� she said.

She said the Canadian government should promote more Canadian investments in China through Hong Kong as Hong Kong was an �active and vibrant economy� in the world, and there were a lot in Hong Kong that the Canadian government could learn from. The Mayor cited Hong Kong�s very efficient public transit system and the widely used �Smart Card� as typical examples. �I�ve told the Ontario Transport Minister about that, and ask him to learn from Hong Kong,� she added.

The highlights of �Team Mississauga� activities in Hong Kong included attending the Hong Kong Forum and the World SME (Small and medium enterprises) Expo organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. More than 1,000 business people from 30 countries and regions came to these two events, while there were about 3,000 Mainland Chinese enterprises with representatives attending.

According to Francis Ho, Acting Director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (Canada), who coordinated the delegation�s trip to Hong Kong together with the Hong Kong Canada Business Association, Canada had the largest contingent among all countries to last November�s Hong Kong Forum � 109 of the 350 delegates were from Canada. The largest 30-member Canadian delegation was from Manitoba, led by its Deputy Premier, the Hon. Rosanne Wowchuk.

�These delegations have opened the curtain for the upcoming visit to Hong Kong by Team Canada led by Prime Minister Paul Martin, and a Canadian trade delegation to Hong Kong next January led by the federal International Trade Minister James Peterson,� Ho said. �They all understand the importance of Hong Kong�s middle-man�s role.�

�It was nice to have people like Mayor McCallion and Deputy Premier Wowchuk to ride on the �first wave� so that they could spread the message to the Canadian business community,� Ho said. �We�ll be seeing more success stories in the pipeline.�

�Team Mississauga� was organized by the Mississauga Board of Trade and Mississauga Board of Chinese Professionals & Businesses, and supported by the Mississauga Economic Development Office.


For more information, please contact:
Stephen Siu, Assistant Director (Public Relations) of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office at: (416) 924-5544 or email: [email protected] or Elison Chu, Senior Information Officer, [email protected].

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