The Director-General of the HK Economic & Trade Office in London Andrew Leung yesterday briefed British businessmen on the latest developments of the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement between Hong Kong and the Mainland.

He told 40 senior executives at a forum organised by the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce & Industry's ChinaLink that both the Hong Kong and Guangdong governments have a vision of developing the greater Pearl River Delta into one of the world's most vibrant economic hubs within the next two decades.

The vision was shared among the delegates of the Hong Kong-Guangdong Co-operation Joint Conference last Tuesday.

Attendants, who come from a wide cross section of businesses in Britain, were interested in tapping into new opportunities arising from CEPA.   

"Both sides agreed to underline the unique position of Hong Kong as an international services hub for trade, finance, transportation and logistics, and to develop details in implementing the co-operation initiatives in the 17 service sectors under CEPA," Mr Leung said.

Mr Leung also reiterated that care had been taken not to exclude foreign companies under the definition of HK Companies as stipulated by CEPA. He appealed to the UK audience to fully capitalise on the new development arising from the Joint Conference's agreement to consolidate implementation of CEPA.