Press Release
Business forum on CEPA
Monday, November 15, 2010
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG), the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the People's Government of Guangdong Province today (November 15) jointly held a forum to help familiarise the business sector with the implementation arrangements for services liberalisation measures under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and its Supplements, in particular Supplement VII.
The forum, held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, aimed to promote and encourage more and fuller utilisation of various liberalisation and facilitation measures under CEPA.
The Acting Chief Executive, Mr John C Tsang; the Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, Mr Liu Kun; and the Deputy Director-General, Department of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce, Mr Sun Tong, delivered speeches at the business forum. Business representatives also shared their experience in making use of CEPA measures in setting up businesses on the Mainland.
About 50 representatives from the central ministries and the People's Government of Guangdong Province attended the forum, including 13 central ministries and seven departments of the People's Government of Guangdong Province, indicating the great importance the Central Government and Guangdong Province attach to the implementation of CEPA. The forum attracted about 350 participants, mostly Hong Kong businessmen and professionals.
The forum included breakout sessions, at which officials from the Mainland introduced the implementation arrangements, application criteria and procedures, and answered questions from the audience. The sessions covered major service sectors including professional services (medical, construction and related engineering, real estate, technical testing, analysis and product testing), financial services (banking, securities and futures), transport and logistics (road, maritime and air transport), tourism, computer and related services, telecommunications, and social services.
The HKSARG is committed to creating a favourable environment for Hong Kong enterprises to open up the Mainland market. CEPA has continued to benefit Hong Kong enterprises and the economy as a whole.
During the years 2004-09, cumulative business receipts obtained by service companies in Hong Kong due to CEPA from Mainland-related business reached HK$61.6 billion. From 2007-09, CEPA-induced business receipts obtained by operations established by Hong Kong service suppliers on the Mainland amounted to HK$198.5 billion. During the same period, companies in Hong Kong obtained additional business receipts totalling about HK$55.1 billion due to CEPA.
Under CEPA, the "Individual Visit Scheme" (IVS) has been extended to 49 Mainland cities. By September 2010, over 56 million Mainland visitors came to Hong Kong under the scheme. In cumulative terms, during 2004-09, IVS visitors brought about additional spending totalling over HK$84.8 billion.
As at end 2009, due to liberalisation of trade in services and IVS under CEPA, an estimated 54,700 jobs were created in Hong Kong, and 40,600 jobs in the Mainland.
For details of CEPA and its Supplements, please refer to the Trade and Industry Department's website at www.tid.gov.hk/english/cepa/index.html .
Ends