Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau: Take multiple measures to deepen international exchanges and cooperation and expand the economic and trade "circle of friends"

On January 22nd, Dr. Chen Bailei, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, spoke about the motion proposed by Councilor Yan Gang to "formulate a development vision for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and actively align with the national '15th Five-Year Plan'". Dr. Chen pointed out that the Mainland Business Expansion Task Force established by the Hong Kong SAR Government has been launched. It gathers forces from all sectors to create a one-stop platform to provide comprehensive support for Mainland enterprises through Hong Kong's professional and high value-added services. The task force supports Mainland enterprises in setting up financial centers and regional headquarters in Hong Kong, and collaborates with enterprises to expand into overseas markets, allowing more Mainland companies to use Hong Kong as a springboard to the world. In addition to actively supporting Mainland enterprises to "go global", Hong Kong will continue to deepen international exchanges and cooperation and expand its economic and trade "circle of friends", while also attracting overseas enterprises to come to Hong Kong. To enhance the synergistic effect of overall economic and trade support, the Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau has established the "One-stop Economic and Trade Platform", enabling overseas economic and trade offices, Invest Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to strengthen cooperation through this platform, complement each other's advantages, and jointly promote Hong Kong's economic and trade and investment work abroad. Furthermore, the economic and trade office in Kuala Lumpur officially commenced operations in December last year, further deepening economic and trade promotion in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and neighboring countries. The Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau will continue to study extending the network to more markets with development potential, including Central Asia, the Middle East, and other countries along the "Belt and Road" initiative. The 2025 Policy Address lists a number of measures, continuing to support branding, upgrading transformation, and expanding domestic sales market through the Special Fund for Brand Development, Upgrade and Transformation, the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme, and support for small and medium-sized enterprises by the Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation. The Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau will also continue to promote the development of cross-border e-commerce, including providing financial support, market information, training, and organizing more promotional activities. In terms of advancing the electronicization of trade documents, the Phase 3 Information Technology System of the "Trade Single Window" is scheduled to begin service in batches in mid-2021, facilitating the submission of trade documents from the industry to the government. In addition, the Hong Kong SAR Government is consulting industry views on the proposed legislative framework to facilitate the electronicization of trade documents between enterprises, and will propose legislative suggestions within this year.