WorldCity, Annual Report: No. 19 Hong Kong- Sweetening the surplus | Connecting Local Business Leaders To The Global Economy

Annual Report: No. 19 Hong Kong- Sweetening the surplus

June 16th, 2006

Georgia hiked its exports 7.5 percent in 2005 to expand its trade surplus with Hong Kong.

If Hong Kong can step up its trade with Georgia this year, the bilateral exchange could pass the $1 billion mark for the first time.

In 2005, the exchange exceeded $935 million, disproportionately favoring Georgia as the state posted a nearly half-billion-dollar surplus.

Georgia exported more than $750 million-worth of goods to Hong Kong last year, led by electric capacitors, or condensers. The state shipped nearly $72 million in condensers to Hong Kong, up nearly 3 percent.

Rank	Top Georgia exports to Hong Kong	Value	Change
	Total all commodities	$750,647,625.00	7.50%
1	Electric capacitors	$71,792,692.00	2.90%
2	Polyethers, expoxides and polyesters, primary forms	$49,840,146.00	84.30%
3	Optical fibers	$46,966,839.00	-3.10%
4	Aircraft	$41,814,750.00	#DIV/0!
5	Poultry, fresh, chilled or frozen	$35,179,064.00	-31.20%

While condensers emerged as the No. 1 export, aircraft saw the biggest growth. The state, which is home to Gulfstream Aerospace, sent nearly $42 million-worth of aircraft to Hong Kong in 2005. The previous year, no aircraft exports were logged.

Shipments of polyethers and polyesters also saw gains, rising 84 percent in value.

Georgia’s imports from Hong Kong, meanwhile, fell to $185 million last year – down 4.9 percent. Of Georgia’s top five imports from Hong Kong, four were in apparel categories, led by sweaters. Sweater imports rose 242 percent in value last year to pass $30 million.

Rank	Top Georgia imports from Hong Kong	Value	Change
	Total all commodities	$184,554,531.00	-4.90%
1	Sweaters, pullovers, vest, knit or crocheted	$30,145,057.00	241.60%
2	Men's or boys' shirts, not knitted or crocheted	$12,120,644.00	-0.70%
3	Women's or girls' suits, not knit	$8,659,908.00	122.20%
4	Transmission apparatus for cellular phones	$5,666,811.00	-84.80%
5	Hats & headgear, knit, lace; hair nets	$5,329,269.00	499.50%

Imports of men’s and boys’ shirts followed at a distant second, down just slightly from 2004 to total $12.1 million. And shipments of women’s suits more than doubled in value to close the year at $8.7 million.

Among the top imports, the only non-apparel commodity was transmission devices for cellular phones. They ended the year at over $5.7 million. That represented a nearly 85 percent plunge when compared with imports for 2004.