Hong Kong and New Zealand can look forward to stronger economic ties, according to Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark. She was speaking at a meeting with Trade Development Council (TDC) Chairman Peter Woo and other local business leaders in Auckland.

Mrs Clark said that she supported Mr Woo’s idea of closer partnerships between small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and welcomed TDC’s pledge to work closely with Trade New Zealand to foster business links.

Mr Woo said that Hong Kong could benefit from strategic partnerships with SMEs from New Zealand’s information technology and biotechnology sectors, and added that New Zealand could become Hong Kong’s “Silicon Valley”. He said that Hong Kong’s strengths were marketing orientated while New Zealand’s strengths were in research and development.

“The idea is to try and seek strategic partners, where you have complementary skills and core competencies,” Mr Woo said. He also pointed out that Hong Kong traders handle 40 per cent of the Chinese mainland’s foreign trade and with China’s trade expected to double in five years after World Trade Organisation accession, New Zealand SMEs could benefit from Hong Kong’s “first mover advantage” in the mainland market.