Taiwan encourages more business deals with Hong Kong

More business exchanges in services between Hong Kong and Taiwan will ultimately serve to boost the economies of both states.

Taiwan’s Vice Economics Minister Francis Liang said a mutually beneficial situation could be created if Taiwan were to foster greater exchanges with Hong Kong, which has the edge in the trade, logistics, financial, shipping and tourism.

Liang noted that the cooperation could take place in the service industry and e-commerce, which he described as the most important business model of recent years.

Liang said bilateral trade between Taiwan and Hong Kong reached US$41.8 billion in 2011 making Hong Kong Taiwan's fourth-largest trading partner and second-biggest export market.

Over the past year, Hong Kong and Taiwan have conducted various negotiations through official promotional agencies that were established in 2010. Charles Lee, chairman of the Hong Kong-Taiwan Economic and Cultural Co-operation and Promotion Council said that in the private sector, exchanges over 2 million visits as of the end of 2011 by Taiwanese to Hong Kong, most of which were made by business travelers.

Hong Kong and China signed a trade agreement in 2004 that gives the former preferential treatment in trade and investment with China. The agreement puts the special administrative region in a key position for countries seeking to enter the vast Chinese market.