Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau: Hong Kong is the best platform to help enterprises expand overseas; the Go Global Task Force has assisted over 340 mainland enterprises.

On October 22, Algernon Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of Hong Kong, attended the plenary session of the 4th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area DEV Industrial and Commercial Conference and said that under "one country, two systems," Hong Kong enjoys the unique advantages of being backed by the motherland and connected to the world. It is not only an international financial, trade and shipping center, but also has a common law system aligned with international standards, high-end professional services and a broad business network. As a "super connector" and "super value-adder," Hong Kong is the best platform to help enterprises expand overseas. Yau introduced that in order to fully leverage Hong Kong's advantages and support mainland enterprises in going global, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government established the Go Global Task Force for Mainland Enterprises in October last year, adopting a three-step strategy of "attracting in, preparing in Hong Kong, and going out" to help enterprises establish structures in Hong Kong suitable for international business development and provide comprehensive support services. In April this year, the task force launched a cross-sector professional service platform, bringing together more than 200 Hong Kong professional service providers covering eight major categories of professional services including finance, law, accounting, and testing and certification, and matching service providers according to enterprises' actual needs to support enterprises going global. The task force has achieved good results since its establishment. It has assisted more than 340 mainland enterprises in establishing or expanding business in Hong Kong, of which about 30 percent have chosen to set up regional headquarters, international headquarters or corporate treasury centers in Hong Kong to further expand high value-added business in the city. In addition, the task force has actively organized outbound study missions to help enterprises directly connect with overseas business opportunities. Yau said that work of the task force will continue to be optimized, including deepening cooperation with industry associations in the mainland and Hong Kong to provide more targeted support, and strengthening collaboration with professional organizations to train more talent related to going global. At the same time, the task force will expand the cross-sector professional service platform by adding environmental, social and governance services, optimizing the matching function, and improving case tracking arrangements to help mainland enterprises more effectively connect with Hong Kong professional service providers and meet the requirements of target markets. On the other hand, it will continue to work with the Ministry of Commerce to promote the comprehensive upgrading of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, strengthen cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland in the services sector, further open up mainland market access and sectors, and create greater cooperation space for Hong Kong's professional services and talent as well as mainland enterprises. Yau hopes to encourage more mainland enterprises to make good use of Hong Kong's international advantages to explore global markets and further deepen economic and trade cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong. Yau concluded that the Greater Bay Area has a solid industrial foundation, abundant professional service resources and broad space for international cooperation. Hong Kong will continue to work closely with Guangdong and Macao, give play to the comprehensive advantages of the Greater Bay Area, support enterprises in seizing the new opportunities brought by the national "15th Five-Year Plan," jointly expand international markets, fully leverage the Greater Bay Area's collective advantages, and integrate into and serve the overall national development.