With its role as a "super connector" and a "super value-adder", the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is prepared to serve as the ideal springboard linking the Chinese mainland and Malaysia, the city’s commerce chief said on Wednesday.
The SAR’s strategic role links capital and opportunities between the East and the West, Algernon Yau Ying-wah said while delivering a speech at a business seminar cum networking lunch titled "Hong Kong: Your Strategic Springboard to Chinese Mainland and Malaysia" in Kuala Lumpur.
To explore new economic opportunities in Malaysia, Yau led a business delegation which includes representatives from mainland enterprises, Hong Kong chambers of commerce and other key industry organizations. The Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global, which is jointly led by Yau and Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), organized the visit.
The secretary shared with participants the work of the GoGlobal Task Force, set up in October to assist mainland enterprises in expanding into overseas markets, including Malaysia, through Hong Kong, and the vast opportunities for Malaysian businesses and industries to join hands with mainland counterparts wishing to establish a presence in Malaysia.
“For instance, Malaysian business and professional service providers will benefit from the new demand for services from incoming Chinese mainland enterprises. Enterprises from both countries can form joint ventures and partnerships to jointly expand businesses in Malaysia and across the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region, or reciprocally venture into the Chinese Mainland market,” he added.
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On the sidelines of the seminar, InvestHK, the HKSAR’s investment promotion agency, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority to deepen bilateral cooperation. The signing was witnessed by Yau and Malaysia’s Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Sim Tze Tzin.
Director-General of Investment Promotion Alpha Lau Hai-suen described the trip as a major success in helping mainland enterprises leverage the HKSAR to expand into Malaysia and the ASEAN market.
“Malaysia being a very key economy within the ASEAN region, we arranged for them to meet not only the government agencies, but also to meet potential key partners ... More ASEAN companies are now also using Hong Kong as a platform to expand further into the Greater Bay Area, or the Chinese Mainland as a whole, and some of them even use Hong Kong to further develop their business in the rest of the world,” she added.
Meanwhile, mainland delegates hailed the trip as fruitful.
Communications executive Athena Zhao called the task force an accelerator for companies going global, noting its help in connecting businesses with crucial legal and financial services.
Max Zhao, a technology executive from the mainland, said official government endorsement provided direct access to senior-level local counterparts.
The delegation also visited Ant International to learn about digital solutions empowering small and medium-sized enterprises in Malaysia and exchanged views on fostering partnerships via Hong Kong with Antom Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer Gary Liu.
The group also visited Hong Leong Manufacturing Group – one of Malaysia’s largest diversified conglomerates – to discuss market strategies with Group President Kwek Leng San.
Later, Yau held a dinner meeting with Malaysia’s Deputy Minister of Finance Liew Chin Tong to discuss economic trends and exchange views on strengthening cooperation between Hong Kong, Malaysia and ASEAN.
