Hong Kong tourism urges Cebuanos to restart travels
Re-introducing its economic prowess and its graceful survival from pandemic-induced slump, the Hong Kong government has touch-based with the captains of the Cebu business sector saying “Hong Kong is back on stage.”
Heads of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Development Council ( HKETDC) and InvestHK were in Cebu to personally meet with the business leaders and personalities, including political executives with the hosting of the Chinese New Year Celebration, held at the Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu.
Led by HKETDC deputy director Allen Pang, the Hong Kong government affirmed its strong comeback and invited Cebuanos to restart future travels to Hong Kong, particularly regaining business with the “Asia’s World City.”
According to Pang, his government is in an aggressive mode to attract investments and new business ties, tightening bilateral ties with neighboring countries in the ASEAN region, including the Philippines.
Pang stressed Cebu’s relevance to Hong Kong’s recovery journey, saying “Hong Kong is well-paced to serve Cebu’s aspirations in various aspects.”
The event gathered the who’s-who in the business circle in Metro Cebu, including members and top officials of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(FCCCI), Cebu-Mandaue Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce Cebu, Philippine Cebu Traders Association, and Hong Kong Tourism Board.
“Since last month [January] Hong Kong has fully opened to everybody from anywhere in the world. This is now the high time for us to fully unleash our potential,” said Pang, reminding Cebuanos that as an international financial and trading center, Hong Kong is a good start to re-connecting with the world—in business and tourism.
Aside from committing to bring in investors from Hong Kong to explore the Philippines and Cebu, Pang stressed the importance of Cebu in working together to growing each other’s tourism industries.
“With the easing of travel restrictions, we are
confident that the bilateral tourism (between the Philippines and Hong Kong) will pick up quickly.”
Likewise, HKTDC-Singapore director Vivienne Chee, echoed Pang’s pronouncement saying with the resumption of flights from both ends (Cebu-Hong Kong), her government expects a resurgence of investments, business, and tourism.
Chee mentioned several avenues for Cebuano businesses to exploit the renewed economic vigor like participating in HKETDC-organized exhibitions and expositions, highlighting the upcoming expo and symposium on July 13-14 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand, dubbed “Think Hong Business. Think Hong Kong.”
The Philippines was Hong Kong’s 11th largest trading partner in the world in 2022.
The latest report from the Trade and Industry Department
of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region revealed that total merchandise trade between the two economies in 2020 was US$12.8 billion, a decrease of 6.2 percent from 2019.
The average annual growth rate in bilateral trade between the Philippines and Hong Kong from 2016 to 2020 was 3.9 percent.
In 2020, Hong Kong’s total exports to the Philippines decreased by 18.2 percent while imports from the Philippines decreased by 0.1 percent.
Earlier, the Hong Kong government launched a tourism campaign "Hello Hong Kong,” giving out 500,000 free air tickets to welcome tourists from around the world. This marketing strategy hopes to get the attention of global tourists to return to the seat of trade, tourism, and commerce in Asia.