Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation member economies have praised the Hong Kong government for its outreach work in understanding and meeting the needs of small and medium enterprises.
Speaking at the 14th APEC SME Ministerial Meeting on March 8 and 9 in Hobart, Australia, Director-General of the Hong Kong Trade & Industry department, Joseph Lai observed that Hong Kong has a favourable business environment, underpinned by the rule of law, an independent judiciary, free flow of capital and information, a low and simple tax regime, and a clean and efficient government.
"Under our 'Market Leads, Government Facilitates' policy, we are committed to making it easy to start and run a business in Hong Kong," he said. "We are gearing ourselves for the 'Be the Smart Regulator' programme, which is a new round of our concerted efforts to further simplify our regulatory regime."
Mr Lai also stated Hong Kong has always attached importance to the provision of an enabling environment for the development of high value-added and technology-based industries and services.
In the Joint Ministerial Statement issued after the meetings, ministers encouraged member economies to make every effort to develop and implement specific measures to improve their competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship.
Key outcomes of the 14th SME Ministerial Meeting included: pursuing SME innovation to promote more energy efficient industry solutions; working harder on making common practice best practice, including improving knowledge amongst SMEs of the business assistance programs available to them; reducing transaction costs and red tape imposed by governments; and encouraging the use of e-commerce and online transactions with government.
"SMEs are a substantial source of wealth for the region and this meeting has examined a wide range of practical ideas and initiatives to help this sector grow and prosper. In helping it grow we are contributing to the wellbeing of our communities across the APEC region," the Chair of the meeting, and Australia's Minister for Small Business and Tourism, Fran Bailey stated.
"This meeting was especially significant as delegates were able to see first hand how innovation can drive productivity and protect the environment," he added.
A comprehensive report in our Intelligence Report series looking at Tax-Effective Global Manufacturing and Financing Structures is available in the Lowtax Library at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/subs_reports.asp and a description of the report can be seen at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/description_report8.asp
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