Interview: Tsang views Hong Kong as Russia's best business partner in Asia

Donald Tsang Yan-Kuen, Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ( HKSAR), who was currently on a visit to Russia, said here Thursday that Hong Kong was the "best business partner" for Russia in Asia.

Chinese Hong Kong and Russia have locked several key cooperative sectors, including technical innovations, in particular communications and information technology, as well as financing, Tsang told Xinhua in an interview.

According to Tsang, Chinese mainland, the United States and the European Union (EU) are three traditional markets for Hong Kong.

Since the U.S. "already saturated" and the EU "full of challenges," he said, Hong Kong was currently in urgent need to seek new markets.

"For us, Russia, the Middle East and India are the most important targets," he said.

Along with Tsang some 30 Hong Kong representatives, such as presidents of service companies, board chairmen and senior regulators, have also come to Russia.

"This reflects our attention to Russia, a key market," said Tsang.

Statistics showed that from 2005 to 2009, bilateral trade volume between Hong Kong and Russia has witnessed an average annual growth of 12.5 percent.

In the first half of 2010, bilateral trade volume surged 113 percent to 1.1 billion U.S. dollars as compared with the same period last year.

Additionally, Russian aluminium giant RusAl that held IPO in Hong Kong in early 2010 has so far amassed 2.2 billion dollars.

Citing great potential in Russian economy, Tsang believed more major Russian enterprises would follow RusAl's lead, eying Hong Kong for financing.

"Hopefully at least two or three (Russian companies) will be listed in Hong Kong this year, and more (are expected) next year," he told Xinhua.

Amid a tight schedule of Tsang's two-day visit to Russia, were seven activities and three speeches. The Hong Kong Chief Executive said his visit aimed to enhance exchanges at three levels: intergovernmental, regulatory and commercial.

After meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, said Tsang, both sides have decided to draft agreement on protection of investment and prevention of double taxation. Regulation agencies from both sides also have agreed to establish a common platform and enhance cooperation. While businessmen have discussed investment opportunities in sectors including mining.

Therefore, "this visit as a summary of the past three years is a success," said Tsang.

Tsang said bilateral relations between Hong Kong and Russia were developing smoothly. After lifting visa restrictions in July 2009, the two-way travels between Hong Kong and Russia rose by 100 percent.

Tsang also suggested Russian businessmen take advantage of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) to tap the Chinese mainland market.

He voiced hope that more Russian companies could expand their operation into Chinese mainland by headquartering in Hong Kong.

Source: Xinhua (By Hai Yang, Wei Dafang and Zhao Jialin)