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HK, Finland sign investment protection agreement

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-02 23:33

HONG KONG: The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government and the Finnish government signed an agreement for the promotion and protection of investments on Thursday in Helsinki, the HKSAR government said.

Rita Lau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR government who was currently on a visit to Finland, signed the agreement with Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Vayrynen, the Information Services Department of the HKSAR government said in a news bulletin.

Under the agreement, the two governments will provide for equal treatment of investors, compensation if investments are expropriated, and free transfer abroad of investments and returns. The agreement also provided for investment dispute settlement.

Lau said the agreement would bring mutual benefits to Hong Kong and Finland by giving additional assurance to each other's investors that their investments were adequately protected.

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"Hong Kong enjoys very good bilateral trade and economic ties with Finland and the agreement will further strengthen such ties," she said.

The agreement is effective for 15 years in the first instance, and will remain in force indefinitely unless terminated by either party, the bulletin said.

It is the 16th investment promotion and protection agreement signed by Hong Kong, following similar agreements with the Netherlands, Australia, Denmark, Italy, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and Thailand, among others.