The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mrs. Rita Lau, visited Los Angeles on November 17, 2008 before attending the APEC Annual Ministerial Meeting in Lima, Peru.

In her first visit to California as Hong Kong’s top trade official, Mrs. Lau addressed an audience of some 200 business leaders and senior government officials at a luncheon in Los Angeles organized by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco, the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and the Hong Kong Association of Southern California.

In her keynote speech, entitled "Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Why Hong Kong should be part of your Global Business Strategy", she reassured the business community that amid the current economic turmoil, Hong Kong was still the preferred location for international businesses serving the Asia Pacific location. "The attributes including sound financial policies and management have not changed and have even been enhanced," Mrs. Lau said.

"Hong Kong has established itself as the undisputed hub for American and other international companies wishing to do business in Mainland China, the rest of Asia and globally."

Mrs. Lau said international businesses came to Hong Kong because of its business-friendly environment, low and simple tax regime, transparent common law legal system, state of the art infrastructure, free flow of information and capital, intellectual property protection and a dynamic cosmopolitan workforce.

These advantages together with the city’s unique role in Mainland China’s economic development and the incomparable business opportunities created by the "Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement" (CEPA) had made Hong Kong the ideal business partner, she said.

"We are confident that our role as an international financial center, as a hub for trade, for logistics, for tourism, for conventions and exhibitions, is unique and remains as strong as ever," she said.

While in California, Mrs. Lau also took the opportunity to visit The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) where she met the company’s senior executives and was briefed on an expansion plan proposed by TWDC for the Hong Kong Disneyland.

Mrs. Lau attended a dinner meeting with the members of Committee of 100, a national organization of Chinese American leaders in a broad range of professions. She briefed them on the latest developments in Hong Kong.