LJUBLJANA, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's Hong Kong is one of the most dynamic and for some industries also one of the most important markets in Asia, said Dejan Zidan, Slovenian deputy prime minister and agricultural minister in a interview by Xinhua recently.
Zidan made this comment on Wednesday after his recent business trip to Hong Kong, during which he met Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR government, Edward Yau.
He labelled his visit to Hong Kong as part of mutual endeavours to strengthen political and economic cooperation between Slovenia and China.
Zidan highlighted excellent political cooperation in recent years between Slovenia and China, as well as those in agriculture and other areas. He noted that China is the most important trading partner of Slovenia in Asia.
When talking about the trade development between Slovenia and China, the deputy prime minister noted with pleasure that in the first half of this year, Slovenian food companies and wine producers exported to Hong Kong more than 800,000 euros of products.
The most important export, He continued, is milk, followed by wine, grain and flour products. "I see real possibilities for Slovenia to continue the growth in exports to Hong Kong".
According to the figures from Slovenian National Statistic Office, in 2016, the export to China increased by 83.5 percent comparing with that in previous year and reached 271 million euros.
The export from Slovenia to Hong Kong has exceeded 36 million euros (increase by 9 percent in comparison to previous year) and imports were at the amount of four million euros, the the national statistic showed.
Again this year, Slovenia businesses presented its wine and food products at the International Wine and Spirits Fair in Hong Kong last week.
Zidan believed it was an opportunity for promoting trade in goods, in particular in the segments of quality products with high added value, as Slovenia has great potential in many areas.
In addition, Slovenia is more and more known as a green, active and healthy country that can be interesting for the Hong Kong market also as a tourist destination, the deputy prime minister concluded. |(1 euro = 1.18 U.S. dollars)
