The Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) regional development creates strategic investment and economic development opportunities for Hong Kong, Chief Secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong government Donald Tsang said on Saturday.

Addressing a symposium on investment in Pan-Pearl River Delta Region, Tsang said the concept of the regional development was put forward last July and tangible progress had been made in only one year.

The major task now is to turn the new concepts into real actions step by step, he added.

He said regional development requires cooperation of all the related parties with implementation of certain flexible measures in a bid to bring about the mutual interests.

Hong Kong is a famous international financial, trade and service center. The advancement of the regional development will facilitate Hong Kong to all the more display its advantages, he said.

Tsang believed that the regional development will create more development space and long-term prosperity of Hong Kong.

The Pan-Pearl River Delta regional development could encourage more non-government enterprises to list in the Hong Kong stock market and create chances for raising fund and investment, while Hong Kong can also act as a go-between and platform for more economic cooperation programs between the Chinese mainland and foreign countries.

Tsang said taking advantage of each other, Hong Kong and the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region have turned the Greater Pan-Pearl River Delta Region into a most efficient production and supply chain. At present, the daily products value of the tens of thousands of factories in the Pearl River Delta Region is over US$300 million.

He stressed that the regional cooperation should persist in the policies of market orientation, mutual benefit, sustained, balanced and coordinated development.

The Pan-Pearl River Delta Region, known as "9+2," comprises Guangdong, Hainan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2004)