Shenzhen,Hong Kong join to fight economic woes

Published on November 17, 2008 by admin

THE governments of Shenzhen and Hong Kong agreed to establish a joint mechanism to help the “twin cities” weather the global financial crisis.

“Shenzhen will spare no effort to help the Hong Kong-invested enterprises in Shenzhen in financing and land use. We will work out favorable measures to help them survive a likely world economic recession by improving their competitiveness through technology, innovation and quality improvement,” Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng, said at a news conference at Wuzhou Guest House on Thursday following a Hong Kong-Shenzhen cooperation conference.

The news conference was held jointly by Xu and Henry Tang Ying-yen, chief secretary for administration of Hong Kong. Neither Xu nor Tang provided details on the mechanism.

Hong Kong proposed concrete measures for the Shenzhen city government to consider to assist Hong Kong-funded enterprises in lowering their operating costs, expanding the domestic market and assisting their financing, the Hong Kong government said in a press release Thursday. Shenzhen “will consider actively and seriously the proposed measures,” it added.

Prior to the news conference, the two cities signed a package of agreements to accelerate and enhance cooperation in development of the Lok Ma Chau Loop, education, environmental protection, culture and tourism.

It’s the first time the two cities have moved to cooperate in fields other than finance and trade, according to Xu.

Both sides agreed to start preparatory work on the joint development of the Lok Ma Chau Loop. The proposal is intended as an “impetus for human-resources development in the South China region and to enhance the competitiveness of the Pearl River Delta,” it said.

Economic woes became the focus of the news conference, overshadowing the cross-border agreements.

Xu told reporters that the Shenzhen city government had decided to set aside 3 billion yuan (US$441 million) as loans to finance small and medium enterprises and set up a task force of 100 experts to research and solve the problems that enterprises are facing.

“The Hong Kong government had taken incentives to boost the economy, such as financing for small and medium enterprises and financial guarantees for exporters, but in the long run, the Hong Kong economy, which relies heavily on export and entreport trade, will be greatly affected by the global economic recession,” Tang said. But he believes Hong Kong will survive the crisis because the Central Government has announced a massive economic stimulus package

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