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HK most open economy: experts
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WITH its commitment to free trade and free enterprise, Hong Kong has become one of the world's most open and transparent investment regions, according to senior economists who participated in the second APEC Investment Mart, which was held in Yantai, East China's Shandong Province last week.\,
Investors and delegates attending the APEC forum were told that there are no special approval procedures for establishing foreign investment, nor any specific regulations governing the management of investment in Hong Kong.\;
"The HKSAR Government is committed to maintaining a level playing field for foreign and local investors," the Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong Stephen Ng said in a speech entitled "Investment Opportunities in Hong Kong". \;
As Hong Kong is a free trade city, generally there are no regulations concerning the minimum capital requirement of a company, nor any regulations concerning the relative degree of local or overseas participation in the ownership or capital structure of the company," Ng said.\;
In addition, funds, either from profits or capital account, may be transferred at will. There are no foreign exchange restrictions, he said, stressing that to sustain the favourable business environment, the government's approach remains one of minimum interference and maximum support.\;
Statistics showed that Hong Kong's foreign direct investment in 2000 leapt to a staggering US$64.4 billion from a base of US$ 23.1 billion dollars in 1999.\;
Economists here believed that as Hong Kong is the recognized gateway to China's mainland, its foreign investment figures will surely continue to increase.\;
(SD-Agencies)
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