I am extremely grateful to the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce for giving me the opportunity to address such a distinguished audience. Your Chamber, Mr Chairman, is not only the oldest business organisation in Hong Kong, it is also a unique forum where Hong Kong' s vibrant business community can exchange ideas and experiences and, as your motto illustrates, acquire "the knowledge to succeed."

At our luncheon today, I aim to add to your knowledge about Belgium, about my country's position as a centre of excellence and innovation, about our lifestyle, and our location at the heart of economic and political Europe. I sincerely hope this knowledge will allow you to succeed in developing closer business ties with your many active counterparts in Belgium.

I also hope our meeting here today may generate a favourable "ch'i," and that it may be auspicious to all of you in your business ventures.

Mr Chairman,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Hong Kong's spectacular bounce-back after the Asian financial crisis, is a striking illustration of your extraordinary entrepreneurial spirit. With healthy growth figures of over 5%, forecast for the next few years, Hong Kong holds its rightful place among the world's most developed economies.

And this is not surprising, since your region is considered the freest economy worldwide, the foremost financial services centre in the region, and a key Asian gateway to Europe.

For all these reasons, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is clear that Belgium is eager to intensify its commercial ties with Hong Kong. That is precisely why we have come to China and Hong Kong with over a hundred business executives from key economic and financial sectors in Belgium. And developing our trading relations is quite a natural thing, if you consider that China, Hong Kong and Belgium have very similar trade figures.

Indeed, according to recent WTO statistics, in the ranking of the world's exporting nations, China holds 9th place, whereas the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union ranks 10th, and Hong Kong 11th In terms of imports, the ranking is inverted: first Hong Kong, then Belgium and Luxembourg, then China.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In Belgium, trade has always been in our blood. We are a very open, export-dependent economy. Two thirds of the prosperity of my country is export-generated, and we are the leading exporter worldwide in per capita terms. Europe's most powerful economies are our immediate neighbours: Germany, France, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Luxembourg. We are used to trading with them, but we also want to reach out and intensify our ties with other vibrant overseas economies, like yours. One look at our trading figures confirms this: trade flows between Belgium and China and Hong Kong grew by 25% last year! But we want to do even better, and we hope that our many contacts here in Hong Kong will help us to achieve that!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With growth prospects of nearly 3.5% this year, Belgium is situated at the top end of current European economic performance. The productivity of our labour force is among the highest worldwide, as is illustrated by the fact that although Belgium has no automobile make of its own, we are Europe's top per capita car manufacturer.

We have the densest road and rail network in Europe, and our country constitutes a crossroads of motorways linking northern and southern Europe as well as the industrial heartland of Germany. Paris and London are only a few hours away by high-speed train. The Belgian ports specialise in speedy and efficient handling of both containers and bulk traffic. Antwerp, as you know, is Europe's second port, and a unique gateway to central and southern Europe.

Belgium also aims at attaining top standards as far as education and quality of life are concerned. We are recognised internationally for this: my country ranks 5th on the United Nations Human Development scale, which assesses a country's level of education, of social security, health standards and communications infrastructure.

And finally, Brussels of course houses the headquarters of the European Union and of NATO, and is therefore the key European decision making centre.

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I think my country possesses a number of assets which together make it a very interesting business partner, and also an ideal location for investment. Since the 1960s, many multinational companies have realised this, and have located their European headquarters in my country. Belgium is eager to consolidate its position as a key political and business centre at the heart of mainland industrial Europe, just as Hong Kong attaches foremost importance to its role as international business centre in the heart of Asia.

In order to maintain these high standards, Belgium must watch its competitive position very carefully. This is especially true in two areas I would like to highlight for a moment: innovation, and lifestyle.

Everybody in this room is well aware of the crucial importance, in today's highly competitive global market, of creativity and innovation. Without these, a company today has but little growth prospects. The same is true for a country.

Recent studies by Europe's employers' federation UNICE, show that knowledge-based industries and, services generate more jobs, create more growth and offer better development prospects than the manufacturing industry or even the services sector.

Belgium is fully aware of this, and aims to be at the forefront of creative innovation in Europe. In particular, our country already enjoys a very high level and intensity of interaction between companies and centres of learning, be they universities, technical or business schools.

Furthermore, multinational companies from the United States, Asia and even from our neighbouring countries, recognise the assets of which we are proud: creative talent, flexibility, an open mind, language skills, a multicultural environment.

Just to give you one example: Philips and Shell, both companies established in The Netherlands, our neighbour to the north, have both located their research and development centres in Belgium. So in terms of research and innovation, my country maintains its ambition to be a real centre of excellence.

There is another area in which we have a long tradition of excellence: lifestyle.

It is something we are really proud of: our food, our beers, our chocolates, our fashion, our diamonds, our luxury goods. In this highly competitive area as well, innovation and creativity go hand in hand with a constant attention to quality.

But the products I mentioned are only the outer manifestations of a way of life, a lifestyle, that is typically Belgian. We work hard, very hard even, but we also like to live well and to enjoy life. I think I detect here another similarity between Belgium and Hong Kong!!

We take pleasure in creating beautiful things, and pay particular attention to customer satisfaction. I am convinced that our way of life will enchant you, each time you drink a Belgian beer or eat some of our delicious chocolates.

But above all, I wish that you should take back with you the basic facts and assets about Belgium which I mentioned earlier, and consider them carefully.

We are confident, and I know I am speaking also for the Belgian business leaders present among us today, that you will find many interesting business opportunities in Belgium or with Belgian companies worldwide.

I would therefore conclude by encouraging you to come to Belgium and see for yourselves how we combine excellence in doing business with living well and enjoying life.

I am extremely grateful that you have given me the opportunity to develop these themes, to which I attach the highest importance, in front of such a well qualified and interested audience.