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Chamber leads merchants to region's riches

Many centuries ago, by engaging in foreign trade with Asia and Africa, Dutch merchants enriched the kingdom's economy. They left their imprint on those economies while also influencing the political and legal systems of their trading partners. The riches brought back from far away lands also played a major role in the country's own social, cultural and political transformation.

Even after centuries of commercial activity, European trading nations and others are discovering that there are, as yet untapped riches in Asia.

Gone are the days, when ships carrying cinnamon from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and gold and copper from Japan, sailed back to Amsterdam. Although centuries have gone by, fortunes can still be made in Asia.

Nederlanders, who are better known as the Dutch, have continued to cement more friendships in Asia and build viable businesses carrying on a tradition that began on March 20, 1602, when the Dutch East India Company, or VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie) was formed to forge trading ties in Asia.

'Dutch businesses are always on the lookout for new opportunities,' said Nico Kooij, the chairman of the Dutch Business Association, adding that in partnership with the Consulate of the Netherlands as well as Dutch trade and investment agencies, the chamber has been paving the way for many ventures both in Hong Kong and China.

Mr Kooij, is also the managing director of Oce (Hong Kong, China), which makes high-end printers, scanners and copiers.

High-level missions such as the ones led by Minister of Foreign Trade Gerrit Ybema, Mrs Tineke Netelenbos, Minister for Transport, Public Works and Water Management, investment promotion missions by Liu Yongzhao, the vice mayor of Fuzhou, capital of Fujian, and most recently a parliamentary delegation led by Senate president Frits Korthals Altes, who also met National People's Congress Standing Committee Chairman Li Peng in Beijing, further helped to 'boost confidence and strengthen our relationship,' Mr Kooij observes.

These visits, he said, helped draw the attention of decision makers to 'issues that affect business'. For example, government leaders who visit, 'get a better picture of the economic and political realities', of Hong Kong and China', he said.

Also, it creates a 'better understanding' among business people of the investment environment in Hong Kong and China.

The DBA, set up in 1991, has among its membership 130 companies and 260 individuals. The chamber will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

At another level, the chamber has forged bonds with the government through the International Business Community, headed by Chief Secretary for Administration Mrs Anson Chan Fang On- sang, who ended her official duties last week.

In addition, Mr Kooij, notes that the chamber is expanding its ties with DBAs in China, includ ing Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing.

Commercial connections are also made through the chamber's valuable marketing tool, the business directory. The latest edition, Mr Kooij, says is the seventh edition and serves as a reliable reference to all entrepreneuers, not just the Dutch.

Various initiatives undertaken by the chamber, he hopes, will clear the way for more business between Hong Kong and the Netherlands, where foreign trade is an economic pillar and where services account for a substantial portion of the GDP.

According to Statistics Netherlands, the volume of exports increased 9.1 per cent in 2000, pushing Gross Domestic Product to 3.9 per cent for the year. The rate of growth in terms of volume was the highest in 10 years. On the other hand, export value increased 21 per cent to 229 billion euros (about HK$1.6 trillion).

Mr Kooij says that besides the economic similarities, both these global trading centres 'have much in common', when it comes to doing business. Just this week, the Switzerland-based international Institute for Management Development, rated the Netherlands and Hong Kong among the most competitive countries in the world, based on 280 criteria, including government and corporate efficiency. Another study by the Washing ton-based Heritage Foundation ranked Hong Kong as the 'freest economy' in the world, while ranking the Netherlands in the top 10, he observes. A Harvard study once ranked the Netherlands, 4th for competitiveness.

Mr Kooij says that this highly competitive character combined with 'political stability, efficient economic and communications infrastructure, solid regulatory framework, the rule of law and a highly-skilled workforce', have made Hong Kong a magnet for business and investment.

Hong Kong and the Netherlands have ports that are world leaders in container throughput and cargo, and both are air transport and logistics hubs, Mr Kooij points out.

The fact that 300 Dutch companies are based in Hong Kong is a testament to the appeal of Hong Kong, Mr Kooij says. The city is also important for Dutch businesses sourcing from China.

Whether it be buying and selling, manufacturing or designing, the trading tradition is continuing, just like when towards the end of the 17th century, goods arrived in Amsterdam aboard 40,000 vessels from more than 600 foreign ports. This activity transformed Amsterdam from a mediaeval fishing village into a centre of banking, insurance, logistics and distribution, similar to the way in which Hong Kong developed into a trading hub.

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