瑞士駐香港總領事洪含雅獻辭

瑞士駐香港總領事 洪含雅 獻辭
Message of Dr. Hans J. Roth, Consul General of Switzerland

瑞士人民於八月一日慶祝海爾維第聯邦於一二九一年成立。當年三個山區的人民,為保護其傳統權利,大家相約在琉森湖附近會面,並結成聯盟,彼此提供支持及援助。居於全世界的瑞士人民,不分地域遠近均自豪地慶祝瑞士七百一十七周年國慶,大家談論其祖國、文化及價值觀。

瑞士公司在香港有超過一百七十家,這些公司如實地反映了瑞士的經濟,行業包括銀行、保險、物流、鐘表、珠寶、機械、化工及醫藥、貿易、旅遊及酒店業等。在二零零七年,瑞士出口來港的金額達五十三億瑞士法郎,約佔瑞士全球出口的百分之二點六。作為擁有七百萬人口的城市,香港是瑞士在亞洲的第三大市場。然而中國(包括香港)則是瑞士在亞洲的最大市場,約佔瑞士全球出口的百分之五點二。瑞士產品享有崇高聲譽,不但受到本地消費者稱讚,並贏得大部份遊客,特別是來自中國內地的遊客的讚賞。

瑞士國內的人口有七百六十萬,而居於海外的瑞士人則接近六十七萬。居於香港的瑞士人逾一千五百人,他們為加強瑞士與香港之間的經濟和文化連繫扮演重要的角色。他們不單在競爭激烈的商界表現出色,而他們的競爭精神亦體現在參與本地的文化活動上,例如賽龍舟及抬轎賽等。本人藉此機會,對瑞士同胞們為卓越經濟成果所作出的個人貢獻謹致謝意,並對他們所取得的成就和成功致以祝賀。

本人與在香港的瑞士社群共同期望瑞士與香港在各領域的緊密關係能有進一步的發展。


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On August 1st, Swiss citizens celebrate the founding of the Helvetic Confederation in 1291. In order to protect their traditional rights, people from three mountain communities located around Lake Lucerne met and created an alliance to pledge mutual aid and support. Despite the geographical distance, Swiss citizens all over the world will proudly celebrate Switzerland’s 717th anniversary by referring to their country, their culture and their values.

Hong Kong hosts more than 170 Swiss companies. These Swiss companies represent a true cross section of the Swiss economy: banking, insurance, logistics, watches, jewellery, machinery, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, trading houses and travel and hospitality industry. In 2007, Swiss exports to Hong Kong reached CHF 5.3 billion and accounted for about 2.6% of global Swiss exports. For a city of 7 million people, Hong Kong is the third largest market for Switzerland in Asia. Indeed China, including Hong Kong, is Switzerland’s biggest market in Asia and accounts for about 5.2% of global Swiss exports. Swiss products enjoy an excellent reputation. They are not only appealing to local consumers, but also winning popularity among tourists, in particular from mainland China.

While Switzerland has a population of 7.6 million, nearly 670,000 Swiss nationals are living abroad. Hong Kong is a home to more than 1,500 Swiss nationals who play a very important role in strengthening the economic and cultural ties between Switzerland and Hong Kong. They are not only present in the very competitive business environment, their competitive spirit is equally felt in their participation in local cultural events like the dragon races or the sedan chair race, I should therefore like to take this opportunity to send my gratitude to our Swiss compatriots for all their personal contributions to this excellent economic results and should like to thank and congratulate them for their engagement and success.

Together with the Swiss community in Hong Kong, we look forward to further develop our close relations on all fronts between Switzerland and Hong Kong.