HKTDC aims to up bilateral trade with India by 12 pc this year

MUMBAI: Hong Kong Trade Development Council ( HKTDC) is expecting an increase in bilateral trade between Hong Kong and India by 12 per cent as compared to last year.

The overall trade in Hong Kong stood at $661-billion in 2009, out of which $12-billion was India's share. The contribution of exports and imports was nearly 50 per cent each.

"The figure ($12-billion) might seem big, but it is just 2 per cent when compared with our total trade. We want this figure to go up by around 12 per cent in 2010," HKTDC's Assistant Executive Director, Raymond Yip, told PTI here.

He said that there was a "huge scope in India for trade."

Hong Kong is one of the major financial centres comprising an integrated network of institutions and markets, which provide a wide range of products and services to local and international customers and investors in the world, he said.

"India is the second-largest market for Hong Kong. There are nearly 11 Indian banks in Hong Kong. Apart from the existing banks, a few more have expressed their desire to set up their offices in Hong Kong," he said.

Yip noted that along with financial services, Hong Kong would also be focusing on various sectors like IT, infrastructure, automotive, power and electronics.

Apart from this, the country is also eyeing investments from the Indian film industry.

"Since the Indian film industry is booming, we want the country to invest in Hong Kong for exporting its films in Chinese markets," Yin said.

"China is the most promising market for Hong Kong's film industry. China has given many concessions to us for film exports under the CEPA agreement. We would like Indian producers to invest in Hong Kong for exporting their films in China. They (producers) can partner with Hong Kong to promote the Indian film industry in China," he added.