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and certificates of Hong Kong service supplier, as well as providing general support services for the industrial sector and SMEs.

Invest Hong Kong

Invest Hong Kong is responsible for spearheading the Government's efforts to attract inward investment. Its Head Office in Hong Kong works closely with the Economic and Trade Offices and consultants engaged overseas to offer solution- oriented investment promotion, facilitation and after-care services to ensure that foreign companies have the support required to establish or expand their operations in the HKSAR, and in the Mainland and the Asia-Pacific region through Hong Kong. Invest Hong Kong also provides information to help companies make informed investment decisions in setting up regional headquarters and regional offices in Hong Kong.

During the year, Invest Hong Kong assisted a record 205 overseas and Mainland companies to set up or expand operations in Hong Kong, an increase of 44 per cent compared with 2003. The total amount of investment generated exceeded $4.66 billion, and over 3 000 new jobs were created.

Invest Hong Kong has identified nine key business sectors in Hong Kong as particularly attractive to overseas investors: financial services, trade-related services, transportation, telecommunications, media and multimedia, business and professional services, information technology, technology (especially electronics and biotechnology), and tourism and entertainment.

Investment promotion activities include sponsoring and participating in several major international conferences. Major events sponsored in 2004 included BusinessWeek's 13th Annual Asia Leadership Forum in April, which featured leading business executives and government officials (including the former British Prime Minister, John Major) and attracted over 400 delegates; and the Forbes Global CEO Forum in September with over 350 top business executives and government officials (such as the Governor of Guangdong Province, Huang Huahua, and the Chief Executive, Tung Chee-hwa). Other major events supported by Invest Hong Kong in 2004 were CASBAA 2004 (The Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia), the 3G World Congress, and the International Herald Tribune's Luxury 2004: The Lure of Asia, the world's most prestigious conference focusing on the business of fashion and luxury.

In 2004, Invest Hong Kong organised 10 joint investment promotion activities. (including one on-line web-based seminar) with major Mainland provinces and cities, including Guangdong, Foshan, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai. These promotions targeted prospective investors in New York, Singapore, Seoul, Tokyo, Stockholm, London, Marseilles and Mumbai.

To actively promote the advantages for Mainland enterprises of using Hong Kong. as a springboard to expand overseas, Invest Hong Kong arranged 23 seminars in 13 Mainland cities in 2004, and received 22 incoming delegations from the Mainland. Moreover, in response to the new investment facilitation policy for Mainland enterprises to invest in Hong Kong introduced by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC),