Speaking at the annual dinner of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, Henry Tang, secretary for commerce, industry and technology of the Hong Kong SAR, said this is one of the messages he will deliver during his Europe trip from March 9 to 14.

"Later on this week, I will be leading a delegation of local IT companies and SMEs to visit Ireland, Germany and Finland. One of my key messages is the visit is to promote Hong Kong as the gateway to the mainland and in mapping out this and other initiatives," he said.

Tang said one of the topics that generated much interest in the world business community is the proposed mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), which will help promote trade and investment flow and provide Hong Kong service providers and manufacturers with much greater access to the mainland market.

He said substantial progress has been made on the discussion between the Hong Kong SAR government and the Central People's government on the fine details of CEPA, well ahead of the June 2003 deadline, after which an official report on the arrangement will be released by the SAR government.

"With CEPA in place, Hong Kong will become an even more attractive two-way platform for doing business with the mainland," he said.

Currently, the SAR handles 40 percent of the mainland's foreign trade and is the major source of inward investment to the mainland, accounting for nearly half of all the external investments in the Chinese mainland, and 70 percent of that of Guangdong Province, Tang said.

Of the 3,200 regional offices and headquarters established in Hong Kong, about 80 percent are responsible for mainland businesses, and in Guangdong Province alone, there are more than 65,000 Hong Kong-linked enterprises employing up to 10 million people, he said.

"Most of them concentrate in the Pearl River Delta. It is the worst kept secret. It is rightly described by the federation of ( Hong Kong Industries)'s ongoing study made on the PRD as the fastest growing part and fastest growing region, and the fastest growing large economy in the world," Tang said.

"Our close ties with the PRD will continue to put us in an unrivaled position in competing for investment opportunities and for market share of the booming mainland market," the Hong Kong official said.

Tang stressed Hong Kong will bring the existing symbiotic economic relationship to an even higher level through better and more coordinated effort between the government and the private sector to attract more overseas investments into the PRD and set up operations in Hong Kong.

"The government will work hand in hand with the private sector.. .. Apart from fostering even greater economic ties and promoting our competitive advantage to overseas economies, we are helping local enterprises, in particular SMEs, equip themselves for new opportunities and new challenges," he said.

(eastday.com March 7, 2003)