Hon. David Saul said yesterday.

Dr. Saul, part of an 11-member Bermuda delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, was to meet there last night with Honk Kong Government officials and businessmen.

Although close to 500 Hong Kong companies have followed the lead of Jardine Matheson and registered companies in Bermuda in preparation for the return of the British dependent territory to China in 1997, "we are not as well known or as well-positioned with Hong Kong as we would like to be'', Dr. Saul told The Royal Gazette .

"We are going to have to do some marketing. At some point, a delegation from Bermuda will have to go to Hong Kong.'' Representatives of the Bermuda International Business Association were also to attend last night's meeting.

Most Hong Kong companies on the Hong Kong Stock exchange have set up companies in Bermuda and "we have some very good working relationships'' with authorities there, he said. "I will make sure that they are enhanced.'' Sessions on money laundering, drug trafficking, tax havens, and the North American Free Trade Agreement were among other topics at the conference with "a great bearing on Bermuda'', he said.

Though nothing raised at the forum was directly relevant to Bermuda's Independence debate, "there was a great deal on inter-dependence -- countries coming together rather than growing apart'', Dr. Saul said.

The 25th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, which ends on Tuesday, has brought together 850 business people with 40 heads of state and 160 Government Ministers like Dr. Saul, who was attending his fifth forum.

Speakers, who have included China State Council Vice-Premier Zhu Rhongji and United Nations Secretary General Boutros-Boutros-Ghali, "have been incredible'', he said.

But the forum is most important for "the personal contacts that one makes'', he said. "I know directly myself that I have gotten probably 100 international companies incorporated in Bermuda directly because of the contacts that I've made here,'' he said.

Bermuda usually hosts a reception at the forum, but this year instead held a dinner for 70 invitees, with speakers from South Africa, Switzerland, Canada, and the Netherlands.

Bermuda delegate Ms Audette Exel was to be elected today as one of the forum's Global Leaders of Tomorrow, Dr. Saul said. Although Ms Exel is originally from New Zealand, her selection is "quite an honour for Bermuda'', he said.

Other Bermuda delegates include Mr. Michael Butt, Mr. Brian O'Hara, Mr. Kit Astwood, and Sen. Lynda Milligan-Whyte.

Although Davos is a Swiss ski resort, Dr. Saul said he left his skis at home as a matter of "strict principle''.

"I'm here on official business,'' he said.

Organisers of the World Economic Forum have been criticised for letting the event lose its way, with too many politicians making grandiose statements and too little discussion of commercial matters.

This year, "we are trying to give more economic emphasis'', Forum spokeswoman Ms Barbara Erskine said.