The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) held a Chinese New Year reception at the Salons  Latécoère, avenue Marceau in Paris on 2 February 2009. The reception was co-hosted by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Cathay Pacific Airways.

This was the fourth of 11 events the HKETO will be hosting in major cities around Europe in January and February  to celebrate the start of the Year of the Ox.

Addressing some 350 guests, Hong Kong's Special Representative for Economic and Trade Affairs to the European Communities, Miss Mary Chow, said that in the year ahead, the HKSAR Government would continue to focus all its efforts on maintaining financial stability and reinforcing Hong  Kong's reputation as a great place to do business in Asia.

Miss Chow noted that steps taken since the Asian financial crisis a few years ago, to shore up Hong Kong's financial markets through a more effective and transparent regulatory system and to improve the risk management of our banks, had helped to provide a solid basis to weather the current downturn.

She said the HKSAR Government had acted quickly to lessen the impact of the global financial crisis.  These included, inter alia, measures to help create more than 60,000 job opportunities this year, and the creation of a Contingent Bank Capital Facility to make available additional capital to banks should they require it.

All these measures would help regain confidence and restore the vigour of the Hong Kong economy once their effects would have filetered through, she added.

Co-operation with France on wine-related business

Miss Chow noted that Hong Kong's friendly relations with France had been considerably strengthened over the last year.

In early 2008 the HKSAR government lifted all duty on wine and beer, which gave a huge boost to imports and sales of wine in Hong Kong.

In August, Hong Kong signed a Memorandum of Understanding relating to Wine with France. In October Hong Kong and France signed a revised Customs co-operative agreement, covering areas such as the protection of intellectual property.

This was followed later that month by the signing of an agreement on wine-related business with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bordeaux. The agreement provides for co-operation in a range of areas, including wine-related tourism, trade and investment promotion, the transfer of technologies relating to wine storage, and manpower training.  Hong Kong and Bordeaux intend to co-operate on the organisation of a wine festival to be held in Hong Kong this year, in parallel with a gourmet food festival. 

Miss Chow added that the first Michelin Guide for Hong Kong had just been published.

"With more than 9,000 restaurants and its award-winning chefs, Hong Kong offers authentic cuisine from around the world, giving visitors a difficult choice - where and what to eat. For the discerning eater, deciding where to dine has now been made easier. The 'little red book' reinforces our city's status as an international gourmet centre, recommending more than 200 restaurants and hotels", she said.

Of the 22 Hong Kong establishments awarded Michelin stars, 17 specialise in Chinese cuisine. One of them received the highest three-star rating while four other restaurants received two stars and one star was awarded to another 12 establishments.

Renowned Hong Kong concert pianist Colleen Lee gave a recital at the reception.