According to a press release, a seminar, entitled “Leveraging Hong Kong’s platform for Nanjing innovation and technology enterprises to ‘go global’”, was jointly organised by InvestHK and the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce. It was co-organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai.
The Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion and the Deputy Director of the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce delivered welcome remarks at the event.
It was noted that Hong Kong has been an important economic and trade partner as well as a key conduit for foreign investment in Nanjing over many years. The city is also the key fundraising market for Nanjing companies. Operating under the principle of ‘one country, two systems’ allows Hong Kong to enjoy dual advantages.
Nanjing enterprises can leverage Hong Kong’s world-class financial and professional services to finance projects and mergers and acquisitions deals, and access the very best accounting and tax, legal, construction engineering design, management and project planning services, as well as manpower training and much more.
Looking forward, co-operation between the two places can be further enhanced to fully tap the opportunities arising from the Belt and Road Initiative.
It was also noted that the Hong Kong Government has introduced various policies and measures to boost innovation and technology development.
This includes developing innovation and technology infrastructure, building the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park at the Lok Ma Chau Loop, and earmarking the development of Cyberport 5 as stated in the Budget last year.
The HKSAR Government has also introduced tax incentives to promote local research and development (R&D), encouraging private enterprises to undertake more R&D activities.
The Head of Innovation and Technology of InvestHK further elaborated on Hong Kong’s advantages and how Mainland enterprises in the innovation and technology sector can capitalise on the city’s advantages to “go global”.
The CEO of a biotechnology company in Hong Kong also spoke with the audience on the latest developments of the biotech industry in Hong Kong and his company’s experience in setting up in the city.
The two other speakers talked about how to make use of Hong Kong’s tax incentives to capture opportunities amid Belt and Road initiatives, as well as the latest developments of the Hong Kong stock market and how to list in Hong Kong.
Attracting international firms
In addition to encouraging firms from neighbouring and local areas, InvestHK is working to attract companies and enterprises from other countries.
For example, OpenGov Asia reported that Indian firms aiming to expand are urged to leverage Hong Kong’s unique tech and business environment.
The Director-General of Investment Promotion visited Kolkata, Pune and Mumbai in India as part of Invest Hong Kong’s (InvestHK) continued efforts to promote Hong Kong’s business attractions.
India, one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, is a major start-up base. The country has a very good foundation in technology and is a leader in research and development.
At the same time, Hong Kong is seeing a crucial economic transformation, putting greater focus on technology and innovation development. A number of new sectors like fintech and biotech are developing fast in Hong Kong. Over the years, the city’s start-up ecosystem has also grown rapidly. The two economies share a lot of similarities.
Moreover, the Comprehensive Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement between Hong Kong and India that recently came into effect should add more appeal for Indian companies to consider Hong Kong as a regional base.
Hence, Indian companies that aim to expand into Asia and the world should leverage the unique international status of Hong Kong.
