The Government of the Virgin Islands has deepened its relationship with the City of Shenzhen following its attendance at the first round table conference for International Department of Sister Cities at The Langham, Shenzhen on May 16.

A seven-member delegation led by Director of BVI House Asia, Ms. Elise Donovan, participated in the three-hour conference hosted by Director General of Shenzhen Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, Dr. Tang Lixia. The conference allowed participating cities to exchange their insights on enhancing international, economic and cultural cooperation with each other.

Ms. Donovan provided an overview on the Territory, and on past exchanges between the British Virgin Islands and Shenzhen. She also signed a Friendly Cooperation and Exchange Framework on behalf of the Government, with the City of Shenzhen of the People’s Republic of China.

This framework marked the continuity of the cooperation and exchange between the two parties since the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in January 2014.

The Director stated that the Government of the Virgin Islands was very pleased to be taking this next step in deepening the Territory’s relationship with the City of Shenzhen, PRC. 

Ms. Danovan said, “In accordance with implementing our MoU, the framework outlines a yearly plan to carry out friendly cooperation and exchanges in economic, cultural and tourism sectors from 2015 to 2017.”

The delegation interacted with other participating cities through a series of conference networking events hosted by the Shenzhen Government.

The BVI delegation was comprised of four members from BVI House Asia, Legal Counsel of AMS Financial Group, Mr. Barry Mitchell, Associate at Maples and Calder, Ms. Lorraine Pao, as well as Sales Manager of TMF Group, (Greater China Region) Ms. Amy Xu.

In addition to the BVI, seven other cities were represented at the roundtable conference. They were: La Vienne, France; Nuremberg, Germany; Busan, Korea; Brisbane, Australia; Canberra, Australia; Edinburgh, United Kingdom and Haifa, Israel.

Shenzhen has established relations with 63 sister cities and friendship cities worldwide, and the British Virgin Islands is the only offshore financial centre.

About BVI House Asia

 BVI House Asia is the representative office of the Government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in Asia Pacific. Based in Hong Kong, BVI House Asia was established in September 2013 to support and expand the strong relationship that the BVI has had with the Asia Pacific region for over 25 years. With a focus on financial services, BVI House Asia provides a wide range of services to Asian businesses, such as asset protection, property holding, financial management, trading, copyrighting, bespoke trust services and investment business. The BVI is among the largest corporate registers in the world and is lauded for its efficient time to market, competitive incorporation fees, and strong and innovative legal system. Drawing on its deep experience in the region and mature infrastructure in Asia, BVI House Asia is committed to building effective, trusted and responsible relationships with its clients, business partners and vested third parties. 

For more information about BVI House Asia, please visit: www.bvihouseasia.com.hk.  

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