| CEPA propels HK service industry |
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| Tuesday,March 22,2005 Posted: 10:40 BJT(0240 GMT) |
HONG KONG, March 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Service industry of Hong Kong will become one of major gainers under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), pledging to create 7,200 new jobs and an additional 4.2 billion HK dollar (540 million US dollar) investment in 2005.
"Our service industry has well seized the great business opportunities brought by CEPA," said Hong Kong's Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology John Tsang on a forum Monday.
As the springboard which provides professional service to overseas enterprises to invest in the mainland and to mainland enterprises hoping to enter the international market, Hong Kong service industry enjoys more business opportunities.
At the end of February, about 720 Hong Kong companies issued with Hong Kong Service Supplier Certificates were enterprising their mainland business. These enterprises were able to enjoy preferential treatment to enter the mainland market before other WTO members. Some enterprises in sectors like banking, distribution, transport and logistics, have already set up operations on the mainland.
So far, over 1,000 Hong Kong residents have registered with Guangdong authorities to set up individually owned stores to provide retail services.
According to initial findings of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's economic benefit analysis of CEPA, the number of jobs created by six local service sectors, namely logistics, land passenger transport, advertising, tourism, telecommunications and distributive trade under the CEPA will risefrom 1,900 last year to about 7,200 this year, said Tsang.
Among the new jobs, 6,800 will be created locally while the remaining 480 will be in the mainland. "They will boost opportunities for the middle-aged unemployed," he added.
Tsang estimated that the mentioned six sectors will also bring Hong Kong an additional investment of 4.2 billion HK dollars (531 million US dollars) this year, following last year's additional 1 billion HK dollar (127 million US dollars) investment.
These sectors attracted additional 2 billion HK dollar (256 million US dollar) investment in the mainland in 2004, leading to a surge of 1.5 billion HK dollar (190 million US dollars) in localexport trade value.
Meanwhile, a number of agreements on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications between the mainland and Hong Kong have been reached to help local professionals expand their markets.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, by the end of 2004, 68 mainland enterprises had been approved to invest in Hong Kong. About 42.5 percent of the enterprises came to Hong Kong between August and December, and their investment reached 470 million HK dollars (59 million US dollars).
In addition, a survey conducted earlier by Invest Hong Kong showed that 22 percent of the foreign companies it assisted in setting up or expanding operations in Hong Kong have indicated that CEPA was one of the factors considered when making investment.
Tsang stressed Hong Kong will serve as the mainland's service center and offer a two-way platform for businesses to open up opportunities.
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