About 20 more key enterprises to come to HK for development this week, Paul Chan says

Financial Secretary Paul Chan revealed in his blog today (March 17) that following the announcement in October last year that about 30 key enterprises would set up or expand their operations in Hong Kong, a second batch of about 20 enterprises would be welcomed this week.

The two batches of key enterprises would invest a total of more than HK$40 billion in Hong Kong and create more than 13,000 jobs, most of which would be in scientific research and management and boost the development of Hong Kong's entire innovation and technology ecosystem, Chan estimated.

Previously, the SAR government's new budget proposed to develop Hong Kong into a multinational supply chain management center.

Chan, in this regard, pointed out that the pattern of international trade has been changing in recent years, with the share of Hong Kong's exports to Europe and the United States declining significantly.

"On the contrary, the share of Hong Kong's exports to ASEAN countries rose from 6.1% in 2003 to 7.9% last year, making it Hong Kong's second-largest export market, and the share of Hong Kong's exports to the Middle East also rose to 3.3%," he noted.

Chan opined that the development of the geopolitical situation, the adjustment of the division of labor in the global manufacturing industry and the restructuring of the supply chain, coupled with the emergence of well-equipped ports in the vicinity, were reshaping the layout of the production lines of enterprises and the mode of export, and affecting Hong Kong's export performance.

"The objective (for HK) is to attract mainland manufacturing enterprises to set up regional headquarters for managing offshore trade in Hong Kong through the setting up of a single window to provide one-stop services to enterprises, including supply chain management, trade financing, consultancy, and manpower and corporate training."