Policy Address

III. Economy

17.       Trading, financial services, shipping, tourism and professional services are Hong Kong's pillar industries.  Apart from them, many emerging industries of a small scale but with great potential deserve the community's attention and government support.

18.       Industries in Hong Kong, regardless of scale, share a common advantage; that is, Hong Kong is an important link and a "super-connector" between the Mainland and the rest of the world.  To promote economic development, Hong Kong should put emphasis on building economic ties with both the Mainland and overseas countries.  At present, more than 7 500 overseas and Mainland enterprises have offices in Hong Kong of which about half are regional headquarters or regional offices.

19.       Hong Kong was the world's eighth largest trading entity in goods in 2013.  The overall trade volume between Hong Kong and the Mainland accounted for more than half of Hong Kong's total trade value.  The import and export trading sector and the wholesale industry, had the largest number of employees in Hong Kong, with about 500 000 persons.

20.       The HKSAR Government will continue to assist Hong Kong enterprises to develop the Mainland market by brand building, upgrading and restructuring operations, and exploring domestic sales, through the $1 billion dedicated fund.  As to fostering and facilitating international trade, apart from active participation in the World Trade Organization's multilateral and plurilateral negotiations, the HKSAR Government seeks to negotiate and conclude free trade agreements with individual countries or regions.  Last July, the HKSAR Government commenced formal negotiations with the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for a free trade agreement.

21.       The service sector accounts for more than 90% of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is a very important component of the economy.  In December 2014, the HKSAR Government and the Ministry of Commerce signed the Agreement between the Mainland and Hong Kong on Achieving Basic Liberalization of Trade in Services in Guangdong, ushering in the basic liberalisation of trade in services between Guangdong and Hong Kong.  We will continue our earnest efforts to seek further market liberalisation in the Mainland with a view to achieving basic liberalisation of trade in services between the entire Mainland and Hong Kong by the end of this year.

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