The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Toronto (HKETO) co-organised a roundtable discussion together with the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (HKCBA), the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) in Canada on September 10 on opportunities for business diversification into Hong Kong for Canadian companies.
Entitled “Business Diversification beyond the US: Think Asia, WHY HONG KONG”, the event brought together Canadian business leaders, policymakers and trade experts to explore the vast opportunities Hong Kong offers for overseas business to tap into Asian markets.
The Acting Director of the HKETO, Gavin Yeung, gave an opening remark at the event. He reaffirmed that Hong Kong remains firmly committed to open markets and free trade, with one of the most simple tax regimes in the world and no trade barrier imposed.
“Hong Kong’s appeal is evident by figures: Hong Kong ranked third globally in terms of foreign direct investment inflows, and was home to around 10 000 overseas and Mainland companies as well as 4 700 start-ups, both are record high figures,” he said.
Introducing a new company re-domiciliation regime just launched in May to attract companies to Hong Kong, Mr Yeung noted that Manulife from Canada is one of the international businesses that has officially announced to re-domicile to Hong Kong. “These companies all gave their strong vote of confidence in the development of Hong Kong,” he added.
The event also featured insights from Callan Anderson, Chief Executive Officer, the Hong Kong Corporate Services Group; and Christopher Chen, Head of Business and Talent Attraction at InvestHK in Canada. They shared Hong Kong and mainland China’s unique value proposition for Canadian businesses, including market diversification, investment opportunities and trade expansion. Participants also had the opportunity to exchange views on trade strategies and business expansion at the Q&A session.
香港經貿處協辦圓桌會議鼓勵加拿大企業在香港發展多元業務
香港駐多倫多經濟貿易辦事處（香港經貿處）於九月十日與港加商會、香港貿易發展局（貿發局）加拿大辦事處及香港投資推廣署加拿大辦事處合辦圓桌會議，向加拿大企業介紹在香港發展多元業務的機遇。
是次圓桌會議題為「美國以外的業務多元發展：聚焦亞洲，為何選擇香港？」，吸引加拿大政、商界領袖和貿易翹楚聚首一堂，探討香港為海外企業拓展亞洲市場提供的龐大機遇。
香港經貿處署理處長楊江鋒為會議致開幕辭。他指出香港致力奉行自由貿易，既無設置貿易壁壘，亦為全球其中一個最簡單稅制的地區。
他表示：「香港的吸引力從數據中可見一斑：香港在外來直接投資流入方面排名全球第三，擁有近萬間海外及內地公司，以及4,700間初創企業，兩項數據均創下新高。」
楊江鋒亦指，為吸引企業遷冊來港，香港剛於五月推出全新的公司遷冊制度，來自加拿大的宏利保險正是其中一間正式宣布遷冊至香港的國際企業。他說：「這些企業對香港未來發展投下信心一票。」
會議上，Hong Kong Corporate Services Group行政總裁Callan Anderson及香港投資推廣署加拿大辦事處投資推廣總監陳立智就香港及中國大陸為加拿大企業提供的獨一無二優勢，包括市場多元發展、投資和貿易拓展機會等分享意見。與會者亦在問答環節就貿易策略和業務拓展交換意見。
