Speeches

IDHKBA breakfasting event in Jakarta Indonesia

Following is the speech by the Deputy Director (Public Relations & Administration) of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta, Angie Chung, at the breakfasting event organised by the Indonesia-Hong Kong Business Association in Jakarta, Indonesia, today (June 6):

Honourable guests, friends from Indonesia and Hong Kong,

First of all, on behalf of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta, I would like to wish you a blessed Ramadan. This is the second Ramadan we have experienced here in Jakarta. Last year, our office was set up during Ramadan, on the 12 June 2017 to be exact. We have been here for close to one year now and I would like to take this opportunity to share with you what we have been doing, as well as our plans in the near future. For new friends who we have not met before, please allow me to take this opportunity to introduce our office to you.

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade office is the official representation of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to four ASEAN countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei. Our mission here is to promote bilateral ties – particularly as regards economic, trade, investment and cultural matters – between Hong Kong and the four countries.

In the past year, with the help and assistance of our friends and counterparts, many of whom are here tonight, we have set up the office and got it running. We have dedicated much effort in building up our network through exploring and developing working relations with the host government, trade organisations, business organisations, think-tanks, cultural institutions and media to promote the interests of Hong Kong. We have recently moved to our long-term accommodation in the World Trade Centre and organised a few events to enhance the people to people bond between Hong Kong and Indonesia, as well as the countries under our purview.

We have now laid the foundations and will focus on cultivating a deeper relationship between Hong Kong and Indonesia. This is a particularly special year for us as it marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

By way of background, before 1997, Hong Kong was a British colony. We were returned to the Motherland, Mainland China in 1997. Throughout these 20 years, three important principles that form the basis of the governance of Hong Kong, namely, ‘One country, Two systems’, ‘Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong’ and ‘a high degree of autonomy’, have been faithfully implemented in accordance with the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitutional document. These three principles guarantee Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability, and in particular they allow us to ride on the dual advantages of being part of one country but practicing a different system from that of Mainland China.

Under “one country”, Hong Kong enjoys full support from the Central Government and has been given preferential access to the market in the Mainland. Under “two systems”, Hong Kong maintains the common law system underpinned by an independent judiciary, a capitalist system featuring a low tax rate, and an open market allowing the free flow of goods, services, capital and business travellers. We, therefore, are familiar with the systems, languages, cultures and business practices of both Mainland China and outside China.

We are proud to be Asia's world city where the East meets the West, where Chinese traditions blend with modern international trends, and we wish to make it your ideal choice for business, travel, trade, investment, education or culture exchanges. Together with two other Hong Kong statutory bodies, namely the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Hong Kong Tourism Board, we strive to promote Hong Kong overseas.

Naturally, the target for cooperation for our office is ASEAN. ASEAN is our important partner. As a whole, it is Hong Kong’s second largest trading partner since 2010, with total bilateral goods trade of USD 107 billion in 2016, bigger than Hong Kong-US trade and Hong Kong-EU trade. Hong Kong is negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN member states to facilitate trade and investment flows in the region. We hope to conclude the negotiations very soon so that the business communities can harvest the benefits as soon as possible.

As mentioned earlier, this year is the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Under the theme of "Together · Progress · Opportunity", the HKSAR Government organises a wide range of celebration events, not only in Hong Kong, but also in Mainland China and overseas. More than 200 celebrative activities in over 80 cities in the world will be held, including exhibitions, arts and cultural performances, film festivals, wine and dine festivals, sports activities, gala dinners, etc.

Here in Jakarta, we have already organised a few activities in the past month. We took part in Markplus’ Jakarta Marketing Week 2017 from 3 to 9 May 2017 and set up a booth to promote Hong Kong. There were also two special sessions on ‘Discover Hong Kong” and “Dim Sum Festival”. The response was very positive and we were happy to be part of the very successful Jakarta Marketing Week. On 20 May 2017, we sponsored the first ever Dragon Boat Festival in Jakarta which was held in Baywalk. Dragon boat racing dated back more than two thousand years, and this traditional festival had become part of Hong Kong's lifestyle. Dragon boat racing is a perfect showcase for Hong Kong’s vibrant culture and we are happy to introduce it into Jakarta.

Upcoming, we will have a major event to be held on 26 July 2017. We will co-organise with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council a business seminar on the Belt and Road initiative and a Gala Dinner. Stay tuned and we hope you will join us in the celebration.

We will also be organising various activities in Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei in the coming months. If you happen to be around, please let us know and you can join us in the celebration.

I would not take up more time. To close my remarks, I hope we would continue to work closely in the coming year to cultivate an even stronger relationship between Indonesian and Hong Kong. Do not hesitate to contact us for more information about Hong Kong. Once again, I wish you all a blessed Ramadan. Thank you.

Ends/Tuesday, June 6, 2017