Export
Issue No. 29 - June/July 2006
Hitch a lift on rampant Asian growth
Hong Kong commits to massive infrastructure spend
While comparison seems facile at first glance, Hong Kong’s proponents are quick to point out that their city is a prime gateway to China, a key transport and financial intermediary between that growing colossus and the west.
When Mrs Jenny Wallis, director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, based in Sydney, briefed the state branch of the Hong Kong Australia Business Association recently she told a story of banking on the future.
After economic shocks from Asian meltdown and pandemic-style diseases, Hong Kong is recovering with the territory’s Financial Secretary, Henry Tang, announcing that after eight hard years public finances are back in surplus.
“Historically in Hong Kong, this is the rule, not the exception,” Mrs Wallis said. “I think the news was well received as another pointer that Hong Kong has bounced back, and bounced back big time.
“All our indicators are looking good. GDP growth last year came in at 7.3 per cent, on the back of a powerful 8.6 per cent performance in 2004. The export of goods and services are showing remarkable growth; tourism numbers and receipts are at record levels; as is stock market turnover; and our powerful economic synergies with the Mainland are providing us with significant growth, and new opportunities for expansion.”
Financial Secretary Tang reported in this year’s Budget that the unemployment rate has fallen from its mid-2003 peak of 8.6 per cent to a four-year low of 5.2 per cent.
“Our strategy of maximising our leverage with the Mainland continues to show results,” Mrs Wallis says.
“Our free trade agreement with the Mainland, the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, or CEPA, which has now completely liberalised the trade in goods and services between Hong Kong and the Mainland.
“Within the first two years of implementation, Hong Kong businesses have saved a t...
