Press Release - October 21, 2003
Canadian businesses planning to tap the huge Mainland China market are strongly encouraged to partner with Hong Kong companies to leverage on the unique advantages Hong Kong enjoys under the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed recently between Hong Kong and Mainland China.

This was one of the key messages the Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada) (HKETO), Mr Bassanio So, brought to business leaders and senior company executives in Montreal today (October 21) at a business luncheon held as an integral part of a Hong Kong Promotion entitled 'Hong Kong & Montreal � A Developing Partnership' organized with the full support of the Montreal City Government.

The Montreal business community was well briefed on the tremendous business opportunities available for Canadian businesses in Hong Kong and China, especially in the Pearl River Delta region, which is now one of the biggest manufacturing bases in the world.

In his speech, Mr So gave a rundown of Hong Kong�s advantages under CEPA.

�Hong Kong companies who engage in trade in goods and trade in services in selected sectors, as outlined in the CEPA annexes, are entitled to enjoy zero import tariff to China and allows its service providers to have earlier access to Mainland China with effect from January 1, 2004, way ahead of China�s World Trade Organization timetable,� he said.

�As for the trade in services, 18 sectors of business in Hong Kong will benefit from CEPA. Broadly speaking, the liberalization of the China market permits earlier access to Hong Kong companies and services providers to the Mainland market, ahead of China�s World Trade Organization timetable. Foreign companies partnering with Hong Kong will gain such benefits.�

The HKETO Director also took the opportunity to update the Montreal business community of Hong Kong�s latest economic situation and its increasing economic integration with the Pearl River Delta (PRD). He urged Canadian companies interested in investing in Greater China to use Hong Kong as their headquarters to coordinate their production or other operations in the PRD and further expand into other parts of China.

The business luncheon was followed by a large-scale photo exhibition entitled �Building a Dynamic Hong Kong� to promote business opportunities arising from Hong Kong�s ambitious future infrastructure plans.

The photo exhibition was declared open this afternoon at a ceremony officiated by Mr
So, HKETO Director; Mrs Francine S�n�cal, the Vice President of the City of Montreal�s Executive Committee; Mr Josh Miller, President of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Montreal Chapter) and Mr Claude Dugas, Executive Director of the World Trade Centre Quebec.

On display at Complexe Desjardins from 8:00am to 9:00 pm daily until October 29, the photo exhibition highlights Hong Kong�s infrastructure achievements and its ambitious plan to invest CAD$120 billion in some 1,600 infrastructure projects in the next ten years.

While the photo exhibition introduces such spectacular infrastructures as the Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok, the extension of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and Tsing Ma Bridge, it also features such planned large-scale projects as new railway lines and bridges, revitalization of urban and rural areas and new developments along the waterfront at West Kowloon, Southeast Kowloon, Central District and Wan Chai. These massive infrastructure projects represent ample business opportunities for Canadian companies, especially those in engineering, architectural, construction and landscaping sectors.

The Hong Kong Promotion was another effort by HKETO to further develop the partnership between Hong Kong and Montreal.


For further information, please contact John Tam, Chief Information Officer at (416)924-5544, email [email protected] or Elison Chu, Senior Information Officer, [email protected] or Jules Nadeau, Project Consultant at (514)354-2643 or email [email protected]

HKETO Director Mr Bassanio So today (October 21) briefed the Montreal business community Hong Kong�s unique advantages under CEPA at a business luncheon held in Montreal.

The �Building a Dynamic Hong Kong� photo exhibition was declared open this afternoon (October 21) at a ceremony by (3rd from left) HKETO Director, Mr Bassanio So; (3rd from right) Mrs Francine S�n�cal, the Vice President of the City of Montreal�s Executive Committee; (2nd from left) Mr Josh Miller, President of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Montreal Chapter) and (2nd from right) Mr Claude Dugas, Executive Director of the World Trade Centre Quebec.