HONG KONG - Invest Hong Kong has assisted 198 overseas and Mainland companies to set up or expand their business operations in the city in the first half of 2011.Announcing the interim results on Wednesday, Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong Simon Galpin said of the 198 companies, about 80 percent were new to Hong Kong.

This is an all-time high since the establishment of the department and more than 1,700 jobs were created by these companies in their first year of operation or expansion in Hong Kong, he added.

"Geographically, in the first half of 2011, the number of completed investment projects from Asia Pacific, Europe and North America, respectively, accounted for 44 percent, 33 percent and 19 percent," Galpin said, adding that Mainland is the single largest market by source of these completed projects, followed by the United States, Japan and the UK.

The department Wednesday also held a cocktail reception, hosted by Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang, to thank the overseas and Mainland investors that have set up or expanded in Hong Kong during the past year.

"Over the past decade, the value of our trade in goods and services has grown by 104 percent. Air cargo is up 153 percent. Port cargo by 36 percent. The capitalization of our stock market has increased more than four-fold," Tsang said.

According to the city's Census and Statistics Department, 353 billion HK dollars (about $46 billion) of foreign direct investment was invested in Hong Kong last year, representing a 32 percent increase over 2009.

Invest Hong Kong is the department of Hong Kong Government established in 2000 to support overseas and Mainland businesses to set up or expand in Hong Kong, by providing free advice and customized service to help businesses succeed in the city.