KOLKATA, Sept 26:The Hong Kong Trade Development
Council, a statutory body engaged in promotion of business,
has organised roadshows in India to attract prospective Indian
businessmen for investments, an official said.
The initiative by the trade promotion body holds
significance amid large-scale protests in Hong Kong.
The interactions with Indian companies will help
removing their worries arising out of the unrest in Hong Kong
that continues to enjoy special status in China, the HKTDC
regional director (Southeast Asia and South Asia) Peter Wong
said.
“We are trying to communicate about misunderstanding
that China is taking over (special status of) Hong Kong. The
situation will get normalise soon as the government has
completely withdrawn the proposal of extradition. The
government is also holding dialogue with civil organisations
to restore normalcy,” Wong said.
Three roadshows, one each in Kolkata, Bhubaneswar and
Agartala, have been organised to attract investments from
Indian companies, he said.
Hong Kong’s protests were lit by a plan to allow
extraditions to the authoritarian mainland, seen by opponents
as the latest move by China to chip away at the city’s unique
freedoms.
Millions of people have taken to Hong Kong’s streets
since June in the biggest challenge to China’s rule of semi-
autonomous Hong Kong since its handover from the British in
1997.
Wong said Hong Kong is an attractive destination for
investors due to its “special status” and if “it is taken
away, it will become a city like any other city of China and
no one wants that to happen”.
He said Hong Kong has become the larger financial hub
than Singapore and about 60 per cent of the total USD 150
billion Chinese FDI globally is routed through Hong Kong, he
said.
Exports have been down by 5 per cent so far in 2019,
he said adding that it may be wrong to say that the shipments
have decreased only due to the social unrest.
The fall in exports could be due to the global
slowdown and the trade war between China and the US, Wong
said.
Wong pointed that there are many manufacturing
companies who are looking for alternative base in India and
enquires about this rose “significantly”.
The interests are coming from sectors like
electronics, textile and garments and food processing, he
said.
Meanwhile, the senior HKTDC official had met the chief
secretary of West Bengal and Odhisa and discussed about
the bilateral cooperation.
Wong hoped a trade representative office of the
council in Kolkata would be opened in future.
Till May 2019, total trade volume between India and
Hong Kong stood at USD 9.8 billion, he added. (PTI)
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