Prime Minister Patterson Calls for Stronger Economic Relations with Hong Kong

Jamaica’s Prime Minister, the Most Hon. P. J. Patterson has said that Jamaica was keen on maintaining relations and looking for new sources of business and investment opportunities with Hong Kong in a bid to deepen the long standing relations with the city. He made the remarks during a courtesy call on the Acting Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Mr. Henry Tang Ying-yen this morning, (Saturday June 18, 2005) in Hong Kong.
Mr. Patterson said that the legal system and other similarities between Hong Kong and Jamaica contributed to their strong diplomatic and economic relations. He said that Hong Kong should take advantage of a number of investment opportunities in Jamaica such as mining, infrastructure, information technology and especially tourism since Jamaica was an Approved Destination for Chinese visitors.
The Prime Minister told Mr. Tang that a number of Jamaican private sector persons who had made links at the Caribbean/China Trade Fair in Jamaica earlier this year were now in Hong Kong to follow up on those contacts.
For his part, Mr. Tang urged Mr. Patterson to continue to exert his influence in international fora such as the WTO and G77 plus China to support China and Hong Kong.
Jamaica established diplomatic relations with China in 1972 and supports the One China Policy, the nomination of China to the WTO and approved China as a country that operated an open market economy.
Mr. Patterson is expected to depart Hong Kong on Sunday (June 19) for Beijing where he will meet with Government officials and sign a Memorandum of Understanding.