HONG KONG companies confirmed and negotiated business worth about $33 billion through participation in Trade Development Council (TDC) programmes in the year ended March 31.
The total represented growth of 57 per cent over the previous year.
A total of 9,160 Hong Kong companies participated in the TDC's programmes, up 14 per cent over the previous year.
TDC chairman Victor Fung said yesterday that the outlook for Hong Kong manufacturers and traders would further improve if China succeeded in negotiating early re-entry to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
''It would enable local companies to build on their comparative advantage in the mainland market,'' he said.
''The TDC's worldwide programme of activities is geared to ensure that Hong Kong maximises the business potential arising from these and other encouraging trends in both new and traditional markets,'' he said.
