It’s just as well Duncan Petrie loves showing off Hong Kong to visitors. In the past three years the company he manages in Hong Kong, creator of the internationally renowned Octopus card, has hosted 300 delegations from around the world.

“Every city in the world comes to see Hong Kong’s Octopus system,’’ said Mr Petrie, general manager of ERG Transit Systems (HK) Ltd.

The Octopus card is a smart card used for payment on all Hong Kong transit modes, including the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) and Kowloon Canton Railway (KCR) train networks, bus, light rail, ferry and tram. The usage is now expanding into retail outlets including some convenience stores, fast food restaurants, Starbucks coffee shops as well as telephones, soft drink vending machines and photo booths.

“Hong Kong has been enormously successful for us; it’s our showcase system. No other city can move people so quickly and efficiently, across all transit modes and in such volume. You can wait longer for an elevator in Hong Kong than you can for an MTR train!”

ERG is an Australian listed company, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, which has also set up “smart card” ticketing systems in Melbourne, Rome, Manchester, Singapore, San Francisco and Berlin.

In 1994 the company won a major contract to design and build the Octopus system in Hong Kong, which went live in 1997.

After providing the technology, ERG continues to support Octopus operator Creative Star - a joint venture between Hong Kong’s transit operators - with maintenance and development. It also has contracts to put in fare collection systems at the MTR Tseung Kwan O extension next year, and the KCR’s light rail extension.

“Hong Kong is a phenomenal place to do business. It is the global crossroads, with a fabulous mix of local and world skills,” Mr Petrie said.

“It is an easy place to transfer technology, so although our Australian team developed the central clearing house - where an estimated six million Octopus transactions are processed every day - this is something we can support and further develop in Hong Kong using largely local skills.

“The incredibly efficient road and public transport networks allow us to get around to customers at opposite ends of Hong Kong. I always contrast this with other cities where you would be lucky to do two business meetings a day. In Hong Kong you can easily do six.

“As an Australian company we can communicate via Hong Kong all around the world. And with China being one of the world economies that is still expanding, Hong Kong is extremely well placed to manage what we expect will be a lot of inward investment, particularly when China enters the World Trade Organisation.

“We believe that when foreign companies invest in China’s transit systems, they will need better ticketing systems. With Octopus as the model, and having connections in the mainland, Hong Kong is a good platform for starting business with China.” www.erggroup.com