InvestHK and TID cohost Ibero-American Community Reception to promote trade and investment collaboration
InvestHK and TID cohost Ibero-American Community Reception to promote trade and investment collaboration Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Invest Hong Kong and the Trade and Industry Department today (March 13) cohosted a reception for the Ibero-American community to celebrate their contributions to Hong Kong's economic development and to promote further collaboration through, among other initiatives, trade and investment agreements.
Speaking at the reception, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, said that Hong Kong has developed strong connections with Ibero-American economies, with a strong growth of 14.4 per cent in the total merchandise trade in 2024. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is committed to fostering closer trade and economic ties with the Ibero-American region, which offers enormous trade and investment opportunities and growth potential for Hong Kong businesses.
Mr Yau emphasised the importance of collaboration particularly at times when uncertainties and challenges from isolationism and protectionism are looming on global trade, and expressed his gratitude to Ibero-American enterprises for their steadfast support in deepening business collaboration and fostering robust partnership with Hong Kong.
He also highlighted the enormous business opportunities created through the many trade initiatives, notably the trade and investment agreements Hong Kong has signed with Ibero-American economies, which reduce entry barriers for goods, services and investments, thereby strengthening the mutually beneficial trade and investment flows.
"They unlock business potential and opportunities of the signing economies and, more importantly, provide a favourable platform for trade and business network to expand across the region," Mr Yau said.
InvestHK and TID cohost Ibero-American Community Reception to promote trade and investment collaboration Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Citing the latest free trade agreement (FTA) signed between Hong Kong and Peru in Novemberlast year, Mr Yau said that service providers and investors of the two places can benefit from the legal certainty of better market access and national treatment when entering and operating in each other's economy. Exporters and manufacturers can likewise benefit from tariff elimination of trade in goods. He added that the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreementnegotiations with Peru have also commenced right after the signing of the FTA.
"Hong Kong's trade and investment agreements with Chile, Peru and Mexico are trade and investment enhancement in their own right, and together they create synergies that would multiply to promote deeper, stronger and broader economic integration between our respective regions across the Pacific Ocean. Hong Kong welcomes opportunities to expand the network further and sign similar agreements with other interested economies of the region," Mr Yau said.
Noting that such trade and investment agreements also help Ibero-American businesses expand into Hong Kong, and through Hong Kong to other exciting markets of the region, in particular the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), Mr Yau encouraged Ibero-American companies to leverage Hong Kong's international and local business knowledge as well as experience and connection to tap into the vast consumer market and industrial ecosystem of the GBA, and to foster partnership and collaboration in the many emerging sectors and industries such as agritech, fintech, biotechnology, e-commerce, digital trade, logistics and sustainability.
"With our world-class financial services, professional expertise, and strategic location, Hong Kong serves as an ideal platform for Ibero-American businesses to expand into fast-growing markets in Asia and along the Belt and Road," Mr Yau said.
Today's reception was attended by around 300 guests from the consulates, chambers of commerce and companies from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Spain and Venezuela.
InvestHK and TID cohost Ibero-American Community Reception to promote trade and investment collaboration Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements releases latest information on special boundary-crossing and corresponding public transport service arrangements during New Year's Eve and New Year holidays
The interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements, led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, released the following information today (December 25) on the special boundary-crossing and corresponding public transport service arrangements during New Year's Eve and the New Year holidays.
In view of a series of New Year's Eve countdown events, while the Hong Kong Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) and the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port (LMC/HG Port) will maintain 24-hour operations as usual, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government reached a consensus with the relevant departments of Guangdong Province and Shenzhen Municipality to make the following special boundary-crossing arrangements on New Year's Eve to facilitate cross-boundary passenger and vehicular movements:
(1) Passenger clearance services at the Lo Wu Control Point, which usually close at midnight, will be extended to 2am the next day. The operating hours of the MTR East Rail Line will be extended correspondingly, with the departure of the last East Rail Line train from Admiralty to Lo Wu extended to 12.56am; and
(2) Passenger and passenger vehicle clearance services at the Shenzhen Bay Port (SBP), which usually close at midnight, will operate overnight, providing round-the-clock services.
For more effective diversion of cross-boundary private cars on New Year's Day with the implementation of round-the-clock clearance at the SBP, only cross-boundary private cars issued with Closed Road Permits (Permits) for the LMC/HG Port are allowed to use the LMC/HG crossing. For cross-boundary private cars issued with Permits for SBP, LMC/HG, Heung Yuen Wai, Man Kam To Boundary Control Point (BCP) or Sha Tau Kok BCP, they can use the SBP during early-morning hours on New Year's Day.
For cross-boundary coaches, the HKSAR Government has also worked with cross-boundary coach service operators to arrange additional services using the SBP during early-morning hours on New Year's Day, and to enhance the services using the LMC/HG Port, including cross-boundary coaches departing from major stopping points in urban areas such as Wan Chai, Prince Edward and Jordan, as well as a shuttle bus running between the Lok Ma Chau (San Tin) Public Transport Interchange and the LMC/HG Port (Yellow Bus), and the HZMB shuttle bus (Gold Bus). Moreover, a dedicated traffic lane section will be reserved for public transport services at the HZMB, LMC/HG Port, and SBP when necessary, to ensure the smooth operation of public transport services.
As regards local public transport services connecting to BCPs, to tie in with the special round-the-clock passenger clearance arrangements of the SBP on New Year's Day, franchised bus operators will operate two special overnight bus routes, Nos. NB2 and NB3, to provide services to and from Yuen Long/Tin Shui Wai and Tuen Mun respectively during the overnight period. Furthermore, in the case of travellers using overnight services of the MTR East Rail Line that night, after the closure of the Lo Wu Control Point, they may also take the specially arranged short-working bus service, route No. N73, from MTR Sheung Shui Station to Lok Ma Chau (San Tin) Public Transport Interchange, and transfer to the Yellow bus for their journey to Shenzhen.
Residents and visitors may visit "Easy Boundary" (www.sb.gov.hk/eng/bwt/status.html?type=outbound), a one-stop information platform on immigration clearance launched by the Security Bureau, to obtain useful information in one go, including the respective average waiting time for passengers and private cars at land BCPs, as well as for the Gold Bus and Yellow Bus to plan their trips and save waiting time.
The Transport Department's Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre will operate 24 hours to closely monitor the traffic conditions and public transport services of various districts, the BCPs and major stations; implement contingency measures when necessary to meet service demands; and disseminate the latest traffic information through various channels.
"The full support and co-ordination of the leaders and relevant departments of Guangdong Province and Shenzhen Municipality are crucial to the implementation of the special boundary-crossing arrangements to facilitate the two-way flow of people between Hong Kong and the Mainland, reflecting the effective and close co-operation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen," the spokesman said.
The HKSAR Government will closely monitor the situation and take contingency actions promptly where necessary and deploy manpower flexibly to ensure orderly operations of the BCPs. The Government has formulated contingency plans for the peak periods of cross-boundary travel and made preparations for preventive and control measures to cater for different scenarios. Relevant bureaux and departments have formulated the plans below.
First, with the extension of operating hours at certain BCPs on New Year's Eve, the relevant departments have minimised leave for frontline officers for flexible manpower deployment. Additional counters, temporary counters and channels will be in operation to facilitate passenger and vehicular flow.
Second, the Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre set up by the Hong Kong Police Force, the Immigration Department, the Customs and Excise Department and other relevant departments will be activated from December 31, 2025 to January 4, 2026 to monitor the real-time situations at various BCPs and regularly report to the interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements, maintain close liaison with Mainland port authorities through the established port hotlines and real-time notification mechanism, and take timely contingency actions to flexibly deploy manpower at the BCPs to ensure smooth operation of the land control points.
Third, the Security Bureau will activate the Emergency Monitoring and Support Centre from December 31, 2025 to January 4, 2026 to closely monitor public order matters and co-ordinate any necessary actions at various BCPs, and support the working group in facilitating interdepartmental follow-up actions where necessary to respond promptly to various kinds of emergencies.
The interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements is tasked with holistically co-ordinating and steering the preparatory work of various government departments for welcoming visitors to Hong Kong during the New Year's Eve and New Year holidays, as well as strengthening information dissemination to enable the public and visitors to plan their itineraries according to the latest situation.
Source: AI-found images
