The Russian trade office in China sees a lot of potential for Russian shipbuilding companies entering the Hong Kong market and plans to promote this prospect there, Russia's Trade Representative in China Sergey Iniushin told Sputnik on Thursday.
BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th December, 2018) The Russian trade office in China sees a lot of potential for Russian shipbuilding companies entering the Hong Kong market and plans to promote this prospect there, Russia's Trade Representative in China Sergey Iniushin told Sputnik on Thursday.
"This market is divided, closed, but when we start promoting our companies and comparing the supply in terms of price, then we see a very big interest in our products. Due to these reasons, one of our tasks is to promote Russian shipbuilding, mainly of small vessels, and we see that the Hong Kong market is of special interest in this regard," Iniushin said.
Iniushin said that despite the fact that Hong Kong's market was mostly occupied by US and UK businesses, Russia saw great opportunities there.
"At the moment it is one of the directions in which we are developing. Recently we had two business trips to Hong Kong. Currently we are studying the market, but we see great potential, especially for hydrofoil ships for passenger transportation," the trade representative said.
He further noted that despite the difficulties associated with entering the Hong Kong market, Russian companies have certain comparative advantages.
"Among other things, our products can compete with their Western analogues in price while having similar quality. I think we are being driven down this path by emotion, not just economics. Because through this we a create certain image of Russia, promote something new and discover the territory [where we can offer] interesting products," Iniushin said.
The overall trade between Russia and Hong Kong rose 53 percent in 2017, with Hong Kong exports to Russia accounting to $2.1 billion and Russian imports soaring to $870 million. In the year prior, Russia signed a Comprehensive Double Tax Agreement with Hong Kong, which cut 17 percent from the non-treaty tax rate. In addition, Russia is currently negotiating Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements with Hong Kong.
