Without exception, the global economic crisis is hurting every economy. Our Financial Secretary Mr. John Tsang announced in his Budget yesterday his strategies to revitalize HK’s economy. I am pleased to highlight some of the measures that may be of interest to you and/or may generate opportunities for your companies.
Budget Highlights
HK Economic Performance and Outlook – Affected by the global downturn, HK’s GDP grew by 2.5% in 2008 and unemployment rate has risen to 4.6%.
A two to three per cent decrease in GDP is expected for 2009. For the medium term, the average growth rate is estimated at 3.5% in real terms for the period 2010-13.
Despite the downturn, HK’s economic fundamentals remain strong. We have a sizeable current account surplus that amounts to 13% of GDP, a strong net external international investment position, a sharp increase in productivity in the past few years, etc. – which are all clear indicators of the underlying strength of HK. Continue reading ‘Message from Director of HKETO on Hong Kong 2009 Budget’
A few days in Hong Kong and it’s easy to see why Canadians feel quite at home in this part of China. The hangover from the British colonial days makes it an easy city to navigate in English, and one of the most widely publicized tourism areas, Lang Kwai Fong, is scattered with various symbols of Canada including the maple leaf.
Work in his 'hood'
This is the first in a series of stories about prominent Canadians I met while in Hong Kong and their reflections on current and potential opportunities between Hong Kong, China, and Canada.
Canadians are the largest expatriate community and are expertly networked. On the business side, the Canadian Chamber in Hong Kong tirelessly provides networking and education opportunities, insights into Chinese culture, and advertising from one Canadian to the next. I was only in Hong Kong for one week and I received invitations to two such events. Outside of business, Canadians frequently play in hockey leagues or other sports teams. Thousands apparently came together on July 1st last year to celebrate Canada Day, which coincidentally is also the anniversary of the handover to China. Continue reading ‘Canadian reflections on Hong Kong – History lays the foundation’
There is an interesting editorial in today’s Globe and Mail by the Asia-Pacific Foundation about the global recession and its relative impact and response on China. President and CEO, Yuen Pau Woo, argues that Canada should be considering more seriously China’s role in the recovery and future position in the world economy, instead of focusing so much of our energy south of the border. He points out that,”
“…there is a growing consensus among experts that China will be the first to find the bottom of the economic crisis, and the first to come out of it.
It is surprising, therefore, that there is so little awareness in Canada about the impact of the global recession on China’s economic rise. The federal stimulus package did not give any hint that Canada has to build stronger economic ties with China.”
A positive economist might be an oxymoron, especially nowadays, but not according to Mark Mullins, Executive Director of the Fraser Institute, an international education and research organization. Mullins was the keynote speaker at “Weathering Market Turmoil,” an event co-hosted by the Institute and the Hong Kong Canada Business Association. Mullins gave an overview of world markets, starting 300 years ago in the 1700s all the way to today’s crisis. While not saying that he can predict when the world’s economy will turn around, Mullins did note some areas of encouragement. He highlighted that:
- Stock markets are cyclical by nature.
- Stock markets have shown signs of stabilizing since November.
- There is a need to watch for stock markets to hit bottom as they do so about four to six months before an upturn.
- Like the stock markets, interest rates have been volatile since late 2007, but are also leveling of and can be an indication of stability. Rates are still decreasing, but there is less “stress”, as he puts it.
- Interest rates and stock markets and linked and their stabilization are a positive sign.
His presentation was broken down into five main sections: lessons of history; market outlook; economic outlook; policy and politics; and implications for China. For the latter, Mullins notes that China has promptly and aggressively taken steps to battle the financial crisis, which he believes lays a good foundation for future growth. He also outlined from the Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World: 2008 Annual Report, the progress that China has made and needs to make, specifically in regards to their size of government, legal structure of property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade, and regulation.
Photo by ArtemFinland
Canadian ICT Partnering Mission to Hong Kong, April 12 – 17, 2009
(Coinciding with International ICT Expo 2009)
The Government of Canada, in partnership with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), would like to invite Canadian companies to join the Canadian ICT Partnering Mission to Hong Kong scheduled for April 12 – 17, 2009. The main objective of this mission is to assist Canadian ICT companies to diversify their business to Hong Kong, China mainland and the Asian market. This initiative is supported by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, the Governments of Alberta and Ontario, Manitoba Trade and Investment, Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance, Hong Kong – Canada Business Association, Monte Jade Science & Technology Association and Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation.
Participating companies will have the opportunity to exhibit in the Canadian Pavilion at the International ICT Expo: http://ictexpo.com at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and/or join the mission programme specially arranged for the this Canadian mission. The Canadian Trade Commissioner Services and the HKTDC Business Matching Services will be available to help add value to the delegates’ participation in the mission.
For further information, registration details and incentive packages, interested parties please contact Adrian Cheng or Jill Chien of HKTDC Toronto Office at Tel: (416) 366-3594 or email: adrian.ch.cheng@tdc.org.hk or jill.chien@tdc.org.hk
“As we strengthen our work on domestic intellectual property rights, we will continue to promote international exchanges and cooperation in order to encourage the healthy development of trade relations.”
This was part of the statement made by Yao Jian from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce after the World Trade Organization (WTO) stated that China must institute more complex laws to battle copyright infringement. This WTO ruling is the result of a United States suit brought against China in 2007 claiming that certain parts of China’s intellectual property rights (IPR) regime is not compliant with its Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) arrangement. This 2007 suit came after seven years of bilateral discussions between the US and China did not resolve the issues. The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), a grouping of US music and movie producers, authors and other private sector groups, estimate that China’s IPR regime cost more than $3.7 billion (USD) in lost sales. The IIPA was formed in 1984 in bilateral and multilateral efforts to improve international protection of copyrighted materials. Continue reading ‘WTO tells China it must do more to combat copyright infringement’
“Canada will lose out in the global quest for talent in the knowledge-based economy unless it updates some of its ideas and policies on immigration.“ This is the first line of a bulletin by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, which speaks to two recently published studies about Canada and retaining international talent. The first, “A Limited Engagement: Mainland Returnees from Canada,” delves into how international student exchanges and overseas education by people from mainland China contribute to the exchanges between Canada and China. Three main questions were asked. First, how do the returning students feel about Canada and how they feel about their Canadian educational and work experience? Second, to what degree do returning students maintain contact with Canada and why? Is there a pattern that explains this behavior? Third, what importance is the Canadian experience to the returnee’s life?
The second study, “Transnational Entrepreneurs as Agents of International Innovation Linkages,” focuses on brain drain or brain loss, the concept in which countries lose their smartest and best educated citizens to other countries which can offer better economic and political lifestyles. Specifically researched were those innovation linkages of migrating internationally educated mainland Chinese professionals who do business in both Canada and China, but maintain Canada as their base.
Both studies outline that there are tremendous advantages to engaging foreign talent. However, they also highlight that to benefit Canada as well as their home country, Canada as a whole should be doing more to retain connections with foreign students and entrepreneurs. Suggestions range from creating a Canada-based innovation and entrepreneurship program to empowering Canadian consulates to better engage the returnees.
Photo by noticelj
Budget Highlights
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