San Francisco ETO celebrates the Year of the Rat

Over 350 distinguished guests, consul-generals, senior government officials and business leaders celebrated the Year of the Rat at the Spring Reception, hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco. Hong Kong Commissioner Miss Margaret Fong joined Ms. Doris Cheung, Director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in hosting the event.

When addressing the guests, Miss Fong said, “This year’s celebrated event will be the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Hong Kong has the great honor of staging the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events this summer. It will be a historic occasion for Hong Kong people as the Olympic Torch passes through the territory on its way to Beijing.”

“While Hong Kong will be first city on Chinese soil to receive the Olympic flame, San Francisco is the only city in the United States to stage the Olympic Torch Relay. Here in the Bay Area, our Office will be organizing a series of celebrations starting from April to commemorate Hong Kong as a proud Olympic co-host city and share the Olympic spirit and friendship,” said Ms Cheung.

“As we are looking forward to an exciting year ahead on sports and culture, equally vibrant is Hong Kong’s economic growth. Our GDP had an average growth of 7.4% in the past three years. To further improve the efficiency and competitiveness of our economy, we will pursue infrastructure projects including new bridges and highways to serve our port, a 30-km bridge connecting Hong Kong to Macao and the Mainland of China, as well as enhanced links between Hong Kong International Airport and Shenzhen Airport. These new infrastructure projects will also mean new business opportunities, especially for those in the engineering sector,” Ms Cheung continued.

“We will endeavor to enhance our dual role as a global city and a city in China. We will provide an unparalleled two-way platform for overseas companies to access the China market and Chinese companies to go international,” she added.

According to Miss Fong, Hong Kong is the world’s seventh largest stock market and raised over $37 billion in IPOs last year. “In 2007, Hong Kong attracted $42.9 billion in foreign direct investment. We are currently home to 6440 overseas firms and our exports of goods and services rose by 10 and 15 percent respectively last year,” said Miss Fong.

Hong Kong was ranked the world’s freest economy for the 14th consecutive year by The Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal. In addition, this Asia’s World City was honored by CEI Asia Pacific magazine as the best city for convention and exhibition support services. Over 300 international conventions and exhibitions are held in Hong Kong each year.

“As we move forward, we will work to further entrench Hong Kong’s position as an international financial and trading centre, tourist destination and convention and exhibition hub,” Miss Fong added.

A highlight of the reception was the lion and dragon dance performance, led by an all-girl team. Exhibition panels about the upcoming Olympic Equestrian events in Hong Kong were also displayed.