Hong Kong and the Southwestern French region of Bordeaux on Tuesday signed a supplemental memorandum of understanding on cooperation in wine-related businesses, adding new elements to their 2008 deal.
Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR government, Yvonne Choi, said a new promotion initiative was the pairing of wine with Asian food, scheduled for October this year.
"This enriches our wine culture and capitalizes on Hong Kong's strength as a gourmet center for the region. We will collaborate with Bordeaux through, for example, chef exchange programs between our training institutions," she said.
"Bordeaux is carrying out research on technologies that may help with the authentication of wines. We look forward to sharing our experience in this area," she said.
Another important area for further collaboration is the organization of the Wine and Dine Festival in the autumns of 2010 and 2011, following the success of the first festival held last year on the West Kowloon waterfront.
"This year's festival in October looks set to be even larger, more stylish and to make a greater impact than the first. It will be held over four days, one day longer than last year, and followed by a citywide wine and dine month," Choi added.
France is Hong Kong's largest wine supplier, accounting for some 56 percent of its total wine imports by value, and many of HK 's wine imports come from Bordeaux.
Since the exemption of wine duties in early 2008, the value of wine imports from France to Hong Kong increased by almost 160 percent year on year, amounting to 252 million euros, in HK's financial year ending March 2010.
Also on Tuesday, Bordeaux Region Development Agency, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bordeaux and the Hong Kong Science Park co-host a half-day event for Hong Kong's high-tech industry.
The aim of this event was to promote collaboration and development opportunity between Bordeaux and Hong Kong companies, and to introduce innovative technology achievements of Bordeaux and Hong Kong in the fields of photonics, laser, aeronautics, biochemistry and Information and Communication Technology.
