Transcription
Hello everyone, welcome to "One Thousand Gold." I am the Editor-in-Chief, Quan Le. This episode, we are honored to have Mr. Vincent Fong, Director of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises, as our guest. He will share with us how to attract top talent and enterprises from around the world to Hong Kong. The Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises has successfully attracted over 120 strategic enterprises since its establishment, some of which are multi-billion dollar companies. These enterprises are expected to invest billions of dollars in Hong Kong. Vincent, who previously served in the government for many years, is now the Director of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises. He will share with us how to attract new opportunities from all over the world.
Let's start the program. Thank you, Vincent, for the invitation. Indeed, I know that you took office as the Director of the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises in October 2024. It hasn't even been two years, right? In such a short period, you have already delivered the results of the sixth batch of enterprises. Everyone feels amazed, and many multi-billion dollar enterprises are included. Are you satisfied with this report card? No, I always feel that we can do better. Of course, with the efforts of various colleagues in the government and our own colleagues, we have seen quite good results in these past batches.
We can see several aspects of the situation, including the influx of increasingly large, multi-billion dollar enterprises. The proportion of overseas enterprises in Hong Kong is also constantly increasing. For example, in this batch, half of them are actually overseas enterprises, and many of them are enterprises that are quite strong overseas. If we look at these batches, we now have about 5 companies that are among the top 10 global manufacturers. They have already settled in Hong Kong. Whether it's their investment or the employment opportunities they create in manufacturing, these are things we are all very concerned about.
You mentioned that in the process of attracting enterprises from overseas, what is Hong Kong's biggest competitor? Is it not, for example, Singapore, which we always talk about, or some countries in the region that are slowly emerging, such as... Yes, I think overseas enterprises that come to settle here actually have more choices. Especially with the current US-China relations, they consider Hong Kong as part of our country. They have more considerations. Many times, they will consider which areas of their business they want to develop. Hong Kong, we can say, has considerable advantages. Or other nearby places. The main reason is that we have a very large market, especially with the promotion of the Greater Bay Area policy. Hong Kong, as a core within this Greater Bay Area, provides a very advantageous position for them to settle and develop in the Greater Bay Area market. In addition, we have established good relationships with many overseas entities over the years. Our systems are also often compatible with their systems, laws, or products, services, standards, etc. These all give us a great advantage.
Compared to other countries, such as Singapore, which you mentioned earlier, the difference is that we have this large market. Also, in the past period, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, or at that time, many enterprises went to Singapore. This has caused Singapore's operating costs to rise significantly. So, the difference with Hong Kong in this aspect has become that in the past, many times, our rent and other relatively high-cost areas were relatively high for them. Now, our cost-effectiveness is even more competitive. These are all reasons why we have attracted many enterprises in the past period. In your sixth batch in April, some enterprises frankly said that they wanted to... Yes. How much do you think this factor contributes to what we call "big or not big"? And how can we strengthen it? Hong Kong is a safe haven, a free port. Strengthening publicity in this regard. Yes, you are right. In fact, many overseas enterprises, before coming to Hong Kong, might have already been to Hong Kong. But when they came to Hong Kong before, they were not doing the kind of work they are doing now. Mainly, it was for R&D, or using Hong Kong as their financial center to strongly compete. Before, they often used Hong Kong as a trading port. But now, you are really settling down in Hong Kong, establishing their R&D teams, their financial centers, their financial personnel.
Let's talk about the strategic enterprises we have attracted. About 70% of them are actually using Hong Kong as their regional or global headquarters. Mainland enterprises, of course, use Hong Kong as their global headquarters, meaning their overseas headquarters. Many other overseas enterprises come to Hong Kong as their regional hub. So, this is a relatively significant change. Fortunately, as we mentioned earlier, to a large extent, in the past period, our policies have also made many adjustments, and in terms of promoting industries.
Our differential advantage is quite significant. Therefore, many enterprises recognize this situation and have more confidence in coming to Hong Kong. For example, in FinTech, we have policies to promote it in different aspects, or optimize our regulatory systems to different degrees. In addition, as we mentioned earlier, in life and health, or biotechnology and medical fields, we are renowned in the world. In the past period, we have strongly promoted this aspect, especially in terms of substantial facilities. For example, we have established a Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Center in this region. These facilities allow companies to conduct clinical trials more efficiently, helping them enter the region faster. I know there are some places that offer subsidies, even giving you money. And tax incentives for several years. It is very difficult for us to do this, because the mainland definitely cannot do it. But according to your meaning, even if our costs are relatively higher in some aspects, we have other ways to compensate for our cost disadvantages. That's right. When we attract strategic enterprises, they are often not greedy for small benefits. It's not about being cheap. Instead, they look at their actual needs for development and require certain things. We provide these differential advantages and conditions for them. Of course, we cannot just look at our own strengths and not compete with others. Therefore, in terms of land prices, and in many policy promotions, we must also pay attention to the preferential offers provided by other competing economies around us and make corresponding adjustments. Let's take a short break and continue our discussion.
A perspective to see the situation clearly, a passage to inspire confidence. Xinwen Liancheng, everyone. We are jointly producing a cross-border new program, "One Thousand Gold," with TVB and Xinwen Liancheng. I am Quan Le, the Editor-in-Chief and host. This week, we have invited a heavyweight financial figure to offer advice for the future development of the economy and market. The guest is truly valuable. Welcome to the program. Time for our program. We continue to chat with Peter about the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises. Attracting them to Hong Kong is one thing. But citizens or the public have a concern: If they promise to invest so much and hire so many people, how do you ensure they will fulfill their commitments? That's a very good question. Let's not just talk about the public. We, as the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises, still have work to do. But mainly, we are concerned about whether their commitments are mutual. Therefore, when we select strategic enterprises, as mentioned earlier, we need to understand their development goals when they come to this region, whether it's to develop from overseas or from Hong Kong to go further. Is this aligned with the two levels of advantages we discussed earlier? We use a method where, in addition to the actual benefits we can provide them, which are not just about being cheap, but real advantages that can help them. Based on this, what will they actually do in Hong Kong? We require them to have a benchmark project with us. A concrete plan. In addition to a general one-year, three-year, or five-year plan, we also need to see what their first benchmark project in Hong Kong is. Within one year, we have some flexibility, but basically, we hope to complete this project within one year. This project then becomes a commitment to them. After having this plan, our colleagues can more concretely help them implement this plan and connect with relevant Hong Kong policies, which is beneficial to both parties. This provides a clearer goal for them to settle down. We believe it is also more reliable for them, as they feel they can get a lot of help from us in terms of policies or departments, making it easier for them to succeed. But does this benchmark project require a certain investment amount, hiring so many people, when it needs to be completed, or even must happen in Hong Kong? Meaning, they cannot just set up a virtual office and you won't consider it. Everything you mentioned, whether it's their investment amount, the number of jobs they will create, etc., is not just for this project, or the benchmark project. Overall, when they come to Hong Kong, they must make such commitments. So, that is definitely required. This benchmark project, as you said, must happen in Hong Kong. It must happen in Hong Kong. Yes, you cannot, or you must... as the first point of occurrence. Looking back at these past few years, only two or three years, are these over 100 companies... at that time, we called them... they are indeed. Yes, this is also... simply put, they have indeed delivered. For example, in terms of numbers that people are more concerned about, such as their investment or manufacturing employment opportunities, these are things we are all very concerned about. Our sixth batch was just released in April, and the numbers are just starting. But if we look back at the previous batches, we can see the situation. For example, in terms of investment amount, it has exceeded the target. There is an additional 3% of their current investment. You estimate that their current investment is more than what was originally estimated? Originally, we estimated their current investment to be around 26 billion. This is compared to their initial commitment of five years. So, in the first two or three years, they have already exceeded their original expectation by 3%. This is the investment amount. In addition, in terms of manufacturing employment opportunities, they have now created about 8,000 jobs. So, this is also exceeding the target. Compared to the same stage, it is about 100% more. So, this is also exceeding the target. Can you share some memorable examples when you met with enterprises, especially overseas enterprises? Were there any that were initially not very receptive? I believe such high-quality enterprises also want to attract them to their local areas. How did you persuade them? Are there any memorable examples? Many, in fact, both are... you can say every one is memorable, because each of them coming to Hong Kong is for a purpose. For example, the IPO case is a good example. They came to Hong Kong for fundraising, and so far, it is still the highest IPO fundraising case globally. This is quite impressive. In the process, they initially needed some funds for development. They also considered various ways to finance their development. The capital market at that time was not so invested in developing with them. In the end, it was very good that our capital market developed well. So, they decided it would be better to try fundraising in Hong Kong. The cost would be the lowest and the effect would be the best. This is a very successful and impressive case. Their fundraising allowed them to build factories and develop in Hungary. And it also allowed them to enter the EU market. This also helped them to enter an overseas market. Another one that I am deeply impressed by is also related to capital. For example, in Hong Kong, their investment is like JD.com. JD.com has also been reported a lot. For example, they invested in a building, buying nearly half of the shares of the holding company, investing billions. And they also made an acquisition in Hong Kong, acquiring a supermarket chain. After the acquisition, they continued to expand, not just to reduce costs or improve cost-effectiveness. These are financial techniques. Instead, they are truly settling down to expand their business. This is also something we are very proud of, having such enterprises that have such confidence in Hong Kong and make real investments. I think this is also related to capital. Because in terms of talent, it is also like the example I mentioned earlier. They came to Hong Kong and saw the advantages of Hong Kong's talent. And they used Hong Kong as their talent pool, their recruitment base, to help them build overseas teams. It has now become a standard model: come to Hong Kong, operate in Hong Kong's operating environment for a while, and then go out. This truly utilizes Hong Kong's talent in this regard. Of course, these talents are not purely transferred from the mainland. They also recruit a lot in Hong Kong, and then go out. This is also a very good example. Everyone has used it. I will be more direct. Everyone is very familiar with it. At the end, you always interact with the world's top CEOs. What do you think is the secret to their success? Or is there any sentence that can summarize their success experience for us to learn from? I dare not say that I can summarize their success experience. But I think it is also something that we often hear. I think my personal feeling is that they must have... When interacting with them, I feel that they must have a long-term vision and goals. Yes, they have a vision, a prospect. And they constantly try, as you mentioned earlier, with such an attitude. Of course, it's not about accepting mediocre results. It's about how to learn from unexpected successes to become more successful. This aspect is about their continuous efforts and attempts. So, I think these elements are indispensable. Okay, thank you, Peter, for this program. I hope you will attract more leading enterprises to Hong Kong and create more opportunities and prospects for Hong Kong. Thank you, thank you. We will see you next week.