Hong Kong’s relationship with New Zealand was further strengthened with the visit of Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR.

His visit, and Carrie Lam’s attendance at the Sea Edge symposium, were not only important for the diplomatic relationships, but also important to myself as a Hong Kong Chinese New Zealander.

Earlier this month, myself and my friends from Future Dragonz, hosted a group of young leaders from GEILI. This is important for me because I am passionate with young social entrepreneurs. I believe in GEILI’s idea on supporting young social entrepreneurs and connecting them with different leaders.

Whilst Hong Kong’s trade with New Zealand was increased by 11% for 2011, Hong Kong has slipped from 9th to 12th as trading partners. While Hong Kong remains as an important region for trading activities in Asia, China has surpass this importance in New Zealand.

There are a lot of great reasons why New Zealand should do business with Hong Kong. Hong Kong is not only a gateway to Asia, it also shares a lot of similarities. English is still the preferred language for businesses; the legislation are very similar; and it still have a strong sense of commonwealth which means it is not difficult for any Kiwis to settle there. Even the waterfront development, there were so many similarities as well!

Hong Kongers are great at making money. There are not many regions in the world where the government’s major challenge is how to spend the surplus.

I urge everyone to come look at business opportunities between Hong Kong and New Zealand. Start with the Hong Kong Festival if you are interested!