Searching for collaboration

I am bringing our logisitcs industry leaders to visit Estonia, as part of a logistics promotion mission to three Central European countries, namely Slovakia, Hungary and Estonia. to introduce to our friends in Estonia the strength of Hong Kong as a logistics hub in Asia, and what Hong Kong stands to offer as a springboard for foreign investment into the Mainland China. We are also keen to look at your logistics developments in Estonia, and to enhance communicatin and cooperation between industry players in Hong Kong and their counterparts in Estonia.

We see great potential in enhancing our relationship. Our statistics show that the bilateral trade volume between Hong Kong and Estonia has been growing on average by 33.4% per annum since 2002. Last year, the value of trade between us reached Euro 117 million, of which Euro 107 million was trade between Estonia and Mainland China routed through Hong Kong.

The EU membership of Estonia is one of the reasons for the heightened interest in Estonia as a possible logistic hub. The huge growth of Mainland China's economy also offers opportunities for building greater trade links between Hong Kong and Estonia. We are optimistic about the future growth trend of the HK-Estonian trade.

So far, HK's major exports and re-exports to Estonia are clothing, telecommunication equipments, parts and accessories of office equipments and electrical apparatus for switching or protecting electrical circuits.

Competition is a fact of life for Hong Kong, and I believe the same applies here in Europe. To us, competition is an impetus for staying alert to hone our competitiveness.

It is our wish to maintain a mutually beneficial relationships with all our trading partners. Our businessmen are always looking for investment opportunities worldwide.

We cannot visit every country in Europe in a week. We have chosen to visit Estonia because of Estonia's open economy, good transport links and central location in the Baltic Sea region. We are also interested in the development of Port of Tallinn.

Autor: ÄP