EU official lauds Hong Kong's global approach to business

THOMAS ROE, head of the European Union's Office of the European Commission in Hong Kong, has been struck in more ways than one by business in the city since he assumed his position six weeks ago.

'I have been impressed by how extraordinarily global Hong Kong businesses are. Many European brands are partly owned by Hong Kong partners,' he said.

'Also, there is the extraordinary speed in which information and business ideas flow, and the proactive ways in which Hong Kong business people act on those ideas.'

Mr Roe said the EU and Hong Kong shared many ideals when it came to doing business, such as free trade, openness to trade and emphasis on service.

Hong Kong is the EU's 16th largest trading partner, with imports and exports amounting to more than Euro29 billion ($292.3 billion) last year. The Chinese mainland is second at Euro175 billion and Taiwan 10th at almost Euro36.5 billion. There is still some way to go to catch up to the United States, which did about Euro390 billion worth of business with the EU last year and ranked number one.

The EU's presence in Hong Kong is also remarkable. Although it had only about 37,400 citizens living in Hong Kong as of the end of last year, the city is the regional headquarters or offices for more than 1,000 EU firms. There is also a big presence in the finance sector. Of the 113 licensed banks in Hong Kong, 34 are incorporated in the EU and 68 EU firms conduct securities and commodities trades from the city.