Hong Kong Trade Promotion Body Opens Taipei Branch

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the former colony's semi-official trade promotion organization, opened its Taipei branch in the upmarket Xinyi district in early December 2008.

The HKTDC, which was established in 1966 as Hong Kong's international marketing body, now has 40 offices around the world, 11 of them in China. The new Taipei office is seen as a significant step in the warming of relations between Taiwan and Hong Kong; it is also seen as a gift for Taiwan's president, Ma Ying-jeou, in reward for his more friendly relations with mainland China.

Relations between Taiwan and Hong Kong have long been rather ambiguous and sensitive, particularly following Hong Kong's return to Chinese administration in 1997. Relations became especially strained during the independence-minded Democratic Progressive Party's eight-year rule of Taiwan. Now, the chill between the two sides has thawed significantly.

HKTDC Chairman Jack C.K. So stresses that the new Taipei office will further improve two-way relations and promote exchanges between Taiwan and China as well as Hong Kong. "The HKTDC can serve as a platform that enterprises in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China, particularly small- and medium-sized ones, can use to grasp global business opportunities. Moreover, with the new office in Taipei, the HKTDC will have more convenient contact and communication with its Taiwan counterpart, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA)."

The new Taipei branch will help give a boost to Hong Kong's service industry, with a focus on financial services, logistics, and real estate. It will also help boost bilateral cooperation in technology development and the entertainment industry.

Taiwan is Hong Kong's fourth-largest trading partner, with two-way trade reaching a value of US$33.1 billion in 2007 and US$24.3 billion in the first three quarters of 2008. The new office, So believes, will help keep the figure growing.

"I have already been in Taiwan for a couple of months, and I've visited scores of small- and medium-sized enterprises here," comments the head of the HKTDC Taipei branch, Perry Fung. "I found that like their counterparts in Hong Kong, they are quite interested in exploring the market in China, and I believe that the HKTDC will be able to help them find market niches there."

Fung reports that the HKTDC plans to cooperate with TAITRA, and other industrial associations in Taiwan, in organizing delegations to food and consumer-product trade shows in China this year.

"The middle-class population in China is now about 230 million, and it will grow to more than 360 million within 10 years," Fung stresses. "This will be more than the total population of the United States or Japan. So the market there is very promising, and now is the right time for manufacturers in Hong Kong and Taiwan to tap the market there."

"Moreover, China currently has around four million private enterprises now, and the number is expected to grow at a double-digit rate annually. These private enterprises are potential clients for the HKTDC and TAITRA, which can provide the services they need."

TAITRA Chairman C.K. Wang is happy to see the new HKTDC branch, noting that it will provide more opportunities for cooperation. "TAITRA and the HKTDC can complement each other," Wang remarks, "since we have better manufacturing know-how and the HKTDC is stronger in finance and services. Cooperation between our two organizations can give us unparalleled strength in developing the market in China."