As Hong Kong continues to play a key role as the gateway for European businesses to enter the Chinese mainland amid the global tariff war, the special administrative region and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area should strive to explain how Hong Kong and the region can attract global enterprises and talent.

Inaki Amate, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, made the call in an interview with China Daily, saying that amid the ongoing tariff spat, European companies specializing in manufacturing, trade and logistics are mainly adopting a wait-and-see attitude, trying to survive.

“The reality is that everybody is trying to survive in the best possible way by finding new markets, and rethinking the value chain, the production and the overall business completely,” he said.

He said the SAR can benefit on three fronts.

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“Affected European companies need to consider alternative markets to the US. The giant market that is still open to the world is the Chinese mainland. As the mainland gradually improves in opening up, Hong Kong is the fantastic gateway to the mainland market,” Amate said.

Secondly, Hong Kong is already an important hub for European manufacturing, trade and logistics companies to operate.

The third aspect is that the SAR’s expertise in professional services can help affected European enterprises reorganize their operations.

“We have seen manufacturing companies on the mainland closing down, only to be bought over by foreign organizations. This is an opportunity for Hong Kong as the city has many professional services companies that can seize such an opportunity,” he said.

Initiated in 1997, the EuroCham is a non-governmental business interest group comprising 16 European chambers in Hong Kong and representing more than 1,600 European companies in the financial services, retail, hospitality, luxury goods, logistics, trading and manufacturing sectors. European professionals in the city work as lawyers, consultants, accountants, architects and even artists and designers.

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Amate said Hong Kong’s economic growth has accelerated and has been steady in the past few years, and the HKSAR government is on the right trajectory by implementing polices to save reduce costs and invest in resources for future growth.

On Greater Bay Area integration, he said the local authorities, including Hong Kong, should think of ways to create a unified brand, and generate greater awareness among the 11-city cluster.  

“The Greater Bay Area is actually the fourth most important bay area in the world, with ambitious city development plans competing for enterprises and investment. But, it is still an abstract concept that is not well understood in Europe,” he explained.

In his view, Hong Kong can promote regional tourism within the city cluster area. “Improved connectivity can particularly help Hong Kong people to discover this part of the world. We should think of how to facilitate a little bit more for people to move across this region.”

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Amate stressed that Hong Kong should consider itself as the international gateway to the Greater Bay Area, with its city cluster offering market and technology access, as well as manufacturing capability.

“While the Greater Bay Area has a fantastic concentration of talents and innovation, companies in this region can benefit from the Hong Kong platform that helps them to ‘go global’. Hong Kong’s professional services will promote the Greater Bay Area brand, and Hong Kong’s financial support will help the region’s enterprises to go public in the city,” he said.

“Hong Kong can be the connector for startups with money, for companies with branding and marketing agencies, the connector for attracting talents, and the connector for cross-border technology access.”