The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce has made international outreach a priority as it seeks to help local businesses, particularly resource-strapped small and medium-sized enterprises, tap into emerging markets.
HKGCC Chairman Agnes Chan Sui-kuen made the remarks in an interview with China Daily.
Given Hong Kong’s limited market of 7.5 million people, “SMEs must look for new opportunities elsewhere”, she said.
In contrast, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has a population of 670 million — nearly 10 percent of the global total. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has a population of 86 million, with the number of long-term residents increasing by 440,000 last year.
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In addition to market size, the Greater Bay Area is home to many high-tech companies and professionals, Chan said. Hong Kong tech firms can capitalize on the city’s top-ranked universities for research while leveraging the Chinese mainland cities’ strengths in land and labor costs for testing and prototyping, she said.
Hong Kong businesses have shown a growing interest in investing in the Greater Bay Area and ASEAN, said Chan. An HKGCC survey indicated that nearly 40 percent of SMEs planned to increase their investments in these regions “even amid last year’s economic recovery”.
However, Chan said, exploring these larger markets isn’t free of challenges, particularly for SMEs with limited resources. A major hurdle is that they are not familiar with local markets, such as consumer demand, legal requirements, and languages. “The starting point is usually to find a good local partner,” she said.
The HKGCC signed memorandums of understanding with the largest chambers of commerce in Vietnam and Cambodia in July, which could enable it to “do some business matching” between Hong Kong SMEs and their counterparts in these emerging markets, Chan said.
To further facilitate Hong Kong companies’ expansion, the HKGCC will host the International Business Summit on Nov 28, inviting all international chambers of commerce in Hong Kong and 60 overseas counterparts that have signed memorandums of understanding. The summit aims to explore Hong Kong’s role amid the world economy’s shifting center of gravity and to expand the chamber’s international network.
Chan said that in the coming months, the chamber will organize business trips to ASEAN countries, including Vietnam and Cambodia, while also planning visits to the traditional markets of the United States and Europe early next year. This follows the chamber’s visit to the Middle East in April and to Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam with a delegation led by Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in July. Moreover, a high-profile delegation led by the chamber will visit Beijing and Shanghai later this month.
Before her trip in July, HKGCC’s committee for Asia, Africa and the Middle East conducted a survey among member companies to identify potential markets. The survey indicated a strong interest in ASEAN, particularly in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
These markets are attracting attention for their “reasonable labor costs, young population with tech savviness”, and a shift toward higher-value industries — moving from low-value manufacturing to service sectors, Chan said.
Hong Kong enjoys strengthened economic ties with ASEAN, which is the city’s second-largest trading partner. Last year, the bilateral trade hit nearly $145 billion, making up 13 percent of Hong Kong’s total external trade. As of June 2023, there were 648 ASEAN companies operating in Hong Kong, 52 of which had their regional headquarters in the city.
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At a recent trade forum hosted by the Consulate General of Indonesia in Hong Kong, Lee said bolstering economic relations with Southeast Asia is a priority for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government. In his third Policy Address, released in mid-October, Lee announced the expansion of the “E-commerce Easy” program, which will extend funding to Hong Kong firms exploring ASEAN markets through e-commerce.
The experience gained from these exchanges could provide valuable lessons for Hong Kong’s future involvement in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Chan said. She recalled a recent trip to Southeast Asia where “many local business leaders asked about Hong Kong’s logistics capabilities, and showed great interest in the city’s role as a trade and logistics hub”.
“These are all Hong Kong’s strengths that we can share with RCEP members, and vice versa. Having opportunities from RCEP countries could further strengthen our capabilities in this sector,” Chan said.
