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Invest Hong Kong, the Special Administrative Region's investment promotion agency, today (June 28) inaugurated a newly expanded office in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, part of its broader campaign to encourage more Mainland companies to capitalise on Hong Kong's attractive business environment.
The facility, staffed by five seasoned professionals - up from three - is a one-stop shop for firms eyeing the SAR to raise equity, tap into state-of-the-art technologies and expand overseas.
"A bigger presence in Guangzhou is a logical response to the rapid growth in demand for our services from companies in Guangdong and nearby provinces, and will allow us to better cater to their individual needs," InvestHK Director-General Mike Rowse said.
The unit will target businesses in Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi and Hainan, as well as Guangdong.
"Private companies in the Mainland are maturing quickly, and many are ready and willing to move beyond the domestic market," Mr Rowse said. "Our job is to help them achieve the transition - realise the ambition - and we have a very solid track record in doing so."
InvestHK's Guangzhou-based experts offer a wide range of services: advice on Hong Kong's regulatory and business environments, sector-specific consultations, and detailed guidance on incorporation. They also facilitate contacts with other government departments in the SAR, and provide introductions to prospective business partners.
The agency has helped 90 Mainland companies to establish or expand operations in the SAR during the past three years.
"We give companies the best possible chance of success in Hong Kong and elsewhere," Mr Rowse reasoned. "They can, for example, test and fine-tune their products in our full-blown market economy, and use it as a springboard to move further afield."
One of InvestHK's most successful clients is Shenzhen-based Kingdee International, the Mainland's leading business software applications provider. It listed on the Second Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2001, graduated to the Main Board last July, and is well on the way to achieving its aim of becoming one of the world's top 10 software companies by the end of the decade.
Of the 347 Mainland firms listed on the HKSE - where they have raised some US$150 billion in equity since 1993 - 54 are Guangdong-based.
"The Central Government, not least the Ministry of Commerce, is very supportive of our efforts to make the advantages, opportunities and services Hong Kong has to offer known to Mainland companies," Mr Rowse said.
"The future is particularly promising," he added, noting that the number of companies authorised by the ministry to invest in Hong Kong surged by 58% last year, to 253.
The enlargement of InvestHK's Guangzhou office comes just two weeks after the establishment of its Beijing operation and will be followed later this year by the opening of facilities in Shanghai and Chengdu.
"Ours is a first-rate consulting service, and it is completely free of charge," Mr Rowse said.
Also speaking at the ceremony, the Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong (GDETO), Mr Peter Leung, said the service boundary of GDETO had expanded to cover Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Jiangxi and Hainan provinces as from April 1 this year.
Mr Leung said a team of immigration officer had also been set up to provide emergency support services to Hong Kong residents in distress in the five provinces.
Visit our website www.InvestHK.gov.hk
Ends/Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:55
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