Hong Kong Delegation in South Africa

By Marlan Padayachee

HONG KONG FINANCIAL SECRETARY HEADS TOP TRADE DELEGATION TO SOUTH AFRICA 4-11 DECEMBER 2011
TRADE and business relations between South Africa and Hong Kong is expected to be strengthened enormously when the Government of the Hong Kong Special Representative Region’s Financial Secretary, Mr John Chun-wah Tsang, heads a top-flight delegation of more than 50 corporate and business leaders and chambers of commerce and various financial, industrial and professional organisations to Johannesburg and other parts of the country from the 4-11 December 2011.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan is scheduled to meet the Hong Kong delegation.
Hong Kong, highly ranked as a financial and economic gateway point into Asia, changed political and administrative hands from Britain to the People’s Republic of China in 1997.
Local hosts say the new trading culture with the strategically-positioned sovereign city-state should be hailed within the context of the burgeoning BRICS economic partnership bloc between Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa becoming part of this advancing economic cluster despite its tiny economy and population of under 50 million people.
Mr Rajen Pillay, South Africa’s Country Entry Strategist and Foreign Investment Adviser, said the high-level Hong King delegation would be particularly attracted to do business with established and emerging entrepreneurs within South Africa’s socio-economic diversity that continues to change the economic and business landscape since South Africa’s transition to democracy. A delegation headed by a Financial Secretary last visited South Africa in 1999.
Apart from a busy schedule of meetings and get-togethers, the delegation will be hosted by Mr Pillay’s Garuda Finance (Pty) Limited and Norma Xabiso Majokweni, chief executive officer of Business Unity South Africa, at a cocktail networking event in Sandton on Tuesday, 6 December 2011 at 5.30pm.
“South African entrepreneurs and businesses across the demographic and gender spectrum would have a rare opportunity of networking, engaging and doing business with a diverse range of businesses and professional organisations. The involvement of Business Unity South Africa makes the international networking platform much more meaningful and focused to give our businesses insights into how one of the most successful financial hubs and global landmarks operates within its own cultural diversity,” said Pillay.
“Hong Kong, as one of China’s two Special Administrative Regions, provides an excellent platform to play a very important role as gateway for South Africa into the Asian sub-continent. This is the awakening of a refreshing, new economic dawn for our entrepreneurs too push back the frontiers of doing big business under the banner of the BRICS umbrella,” added Norma Xabiso Majokweni, Business Unity South Africa’s CEO.
Among the prominent personalities on the delegation are Margaret Fong, deputy director of Hong Kong Trade and Development Council, her colleague Stephen Wong of the Middle East and Africa desk, Eddy Fong, chairman of Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Hye Cheng Cheah, chairman of Value Partners, Robin Lee, group chairman and CEO of SSC Mandarin Group, Kenny Lee, chairman of Chinese Academy of Governance, Gui Xian Wei, Alternate Chief Executive of the China Development Bank Corporation (Hong Kong), Junius Ho, President Law Society of Hong Kong, Philip Tsai, President of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Chit Sun Cheong, Executive Director China State Construction International Holdings Limited, Otto Poon, President of the Hong Kong Federation of Electrical and Mechanical Contractors Limited, and several other influential delegates.
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For Media Interviews and Photo Opportunities, contact Marlan Padayachee, media strategist and publicist on behalf of Rajen Pillay and AfroAsian Capital Garuda Finance (Pty) Limited and Business Unity South Africa, on the following contact details:
Email: marlan.padayachee@mtn.blackberrry.com/ marlan.padayachee@gmail.com
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