Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) Tuesday formally opened its first South Korean office in Seoul to facilitate and boost Korean companies’ investment and business in Hong Kong.

HKTDC has been operating its consultant office in Seoul since 1990 but this is the first time it officially runs a full-service office, according to HKTDC. Founded in 1966, HKTDC has been promoting Hong Kong as a business hub in Asia and currently operates more than 40 overseas offices.

With the new office to be run by both Korean and Hong Kong staff, HKTDC expected more Korean companies would be able to capture business opportunities not only in Hong Kong, but also in China and other Asian countries by setting up their base in the city country.

Especially, timing for the opening of HKTDC’s Seoul office is great given the fact that more business opportunities have emerged in Hong Kong after the Chinese government has embarked on its grand economic development projects - the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Bay Area development plan - and Hong Kong has signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with ASEAN, Margaret Fong, executive director of HKTDC, said during an opening ceremony held in Seoul on Tuesday.

Korea is Hong Kong’s sixth largest trading partner and fifth-largest source of imports, according to the HKTDC’s press release. In the first nine months of 2017, bilateral trade between the two countries surged 26 percent on year to $28.2 billion, while Hong Kong imports from Korea soared 32.3 percent to $22.9 billion. But over the cited period, the city state’s outbound shipments to Korea rose a mere 4.5 percent to $5.3 billion. The two countries’ main trading items include semiconductors, electronic valves and tubes, as well as telecom equipment and parts.

Currently, about 1,700 Korean companies in financial services, logistics, transportation and cosmetics sectors are doing business in Hong Kong.

On Tuesday, HKTDC hosted a party at Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul to celebrate the opening of its Korean office, which was attended by more than 280 government officials and business leaders from Korea and China including Kim Yeong-sam, head of office of international Trade and Investment under the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy; Margaret Fong, HKTDC executive director; and Gu Jinsheng, minister-counsellor, Economic & Commercial Counsellor’s Office under Embassy of the People`s Republic of China in the Republic of Korea.

By Park Joon-hyung and Lee Ha-yeon

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