Grand tour: Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Rita Lau (3rd left) visits the Walt Disney Company in Los Angeles.

Hong Kong remains the preferred location for international businesses serving the Asia Pacific region despite the economic turmoil.

This was the message from Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Rita Lau in her keynote speech at a Los Angeles luncheon today (HK time) organised by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (San Francisco), the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and the Hong Kong Association of Southern California.

Stopping in the US on her way to the APEC Annual Ministerial Meeting in Lima, Peru, Mrs Lau said Hong Kong's sound financial policies and management remain firm.

"Hong Kong has established itself as the undisputed hub for American and other international companies wishing to do business in Mainland China, the rest of Asia and globally," she said.

International businesses come to Hong Kong because of its business-friendly environment, low and simple tax regime, transparent common law legal system, state of the art infrastructure, free flow of information and capital, intellectual property protection and dynamic, cosmopolitan workforce, she said.

These advantages, together with the city's unique role in the Mainland's economic development and the incomparable business opportunities created by the Mainland & Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, make Hong Kong the ideal business partner, she added.

"We are confident our role as an international financial centre, as a hub for trade, for logistics, for tourism, for conventions and exhibitions, is unique and remains as strong as ever."