Financial service forum a hit in US

The 2012 US Investment Promotion Forum, sponsored by the government of Guangdong province, was held in the Harvard Club, New York, on Wednesday.

More than 150 delegates were present at the event, including government officials, experts and scholars, financial service outsourcing companies and the local media.

This is the fifth time that the Guangdong government has held the forum, which aims to introduce the Guangdong High-Tech Service Zone for Financial Institutions to US financial circles, advocate the integration of the technological advantages of US enterprises with the cost and market advantages of Guangdong, and extend a welcoming hand to the service agencies of large financial institutions, financial service outsourcing companies and institutions of emerging industries.

In 2011, the province's GDP reached 5.3 trillion yuan ($850.7 billion), one-ninth of the nation's total GDP. Its import and export volume was 25 percent of the national total.

In recent years, the economic and trade relations between Guangdong and the United States have become increasingly closer and the US is now the biggest trade partner of Guangdong.

Last year, the total trade volume between Guangdong and the US reached $104.4 billion, accounting for 11 percent of the $913.5 billion total import and export volume of the province. And in the first three quarters of this year, the figure was $80.5 billion, up 4.3 percent year on year.

The forum to promote the high-tech zone is designed to attract US financial institutions and service outsourcing enterprises to set up regional headquarters or affiliates, back office headquarters and private equity and venture capital institutions in the zone.

Guangdong wants to attract US financial circles to develop the capital market and insurance market, as well as innovative financial products and services in the zone to provide good financial services for the restructuring and upgrading of Guangdong-based enterprises.

The city of Foshan, where the zone is located, has invested heavily in the construction of the zone, which is already fairly complete in auxiliary facilities.

With its large scale, complete supporting facilities and good environment, the city has been built into the financial backup service base of China, said Deputy Mayor Liu Wei.

He promised "the most competitive supporting policies and the best investment services" to US financial and service outsourcing companies willing to invest in the zone, which has already attracted 96 projects, including AIA Asia-Pacific Backup Support Center, IBM Service Outsourcing, French Capgemini BPO Operation Center and Fujutsu Data Center, with a total investment of 27 billion yuan.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/23/2012 page12)