Switzerland sets up biz promotion body in HK

Having suffered from a setback in traditional export markets, the Switzerland government is stepping up its efforts to tap the Hong Kong and Chinese mainland markets by first setting up a new business promotion organization in Hong Kong, to help its small and medium-sized enterprises to enter the city.

Housed in the premises of the Swiss Consulate General in Hong Kong, the new organization, namely Swiss Business Hub (SBH), will assist Swiss expo-oriented SMEs that wish to establish themselves in the city, and to also undertake Switzerland promotional activities to make the country better known as an attractive business location for Hong Kong investors, Daniel Kng, CEO of Osec - a Swiss organization for promoting foreign trade, said in Hong Kong on Monday.

Exports to its traditional trade partners in Europe, which weighed over 60 percent of Switzerland's total exports, have recorded sluggish growth after a majority of European countries encountered economic crisis. However, trade activities with Hong Kong remain buoyant. Exports to Hong Kong registered some 20 percent increase during the first eight months of this year, after a full year of 30 percent growth recorded in 2011, according to Kng.

Hong Kong's economic importance is also underlined by the strong local presence of Swiss firms. Currently, there are about 190 Swiss companies operating in the city, bringing in direct investments amounting to around 5 billion Swiss francs ($5.34 billion).

Hong Kong is also Switzerland's third most important trading partner in Asia. With the Free Trade Agreement between Hong Kong and Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) entering into force this month, trade and economic relations between Switzerland and the city are expected to strengthen further.

"Switzerland and Hong Kong are both small economies among big players," said Kng, who believes that collaboration between the two economies will be much easiers as both territories are inherently identical in various aspects including their free economy and business transparency.

However, the type of goods that Swiss companies sell to Hong Kong are primarily luxury items such as fine watches and jewelries, which account for 52 percent of the total export value to the city at the moment, followed by machinery, pharmaceuticals and chemical basic products.

The organization also sees further potential for export-oriented Swiss companies in sectors including biotechnology, medical technology, electronic devices, Information and communications technology, multimedia, as well as the clean-tech sector.

"Hong Kong is the veritable gateway to China, and as a regional location, it can also serve other surrounding countries in Asia. Meanwhile, China is also benefiting from Hong Kong's position as a catchment basin for imported goods from Switzerland and the European Union," said Kng.

The Hong Kong Swiss Business Hub is the 19th office that Switzerland has set up globally to promote local SMEs to foreign countries and economies. A similar organization has been set up in China back in 2002, headquartered in Beijing with area offices in Shanghai and Guangzhou, to promote business opportunities between Swiss and Chinese SMEs.