Senior executives from over 80 overseas companies which have recently set up or increased their investment in Hong Kong attended a reception hosted by Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa to welcome their presence in the SAR.
About 100 companies have chosen Hong Kong as the location for their regional offices since last June, in addition to the 3,001 companies that had already established regional headquarters or offices here.
Noting that Hong Kong remained the premier location for multinational companies in Asia, Mr Tung pointed to the SARˇ¦s institutional strengths, low taxes, banking and financial facilities, rule of law, quality professionals and entrepreneurial attitudes.
ˇ§The fact is that over 100 companies have chosen to come to Hong Kong at this time, a time of economic downturn in their own countries. It is a tremendous vote of confidence in Hong Kong and a testimony to the strength of Hong Kong as an attractive centre for international business.ˇ¨
The number of international executives from the logistics and transport industries is also on the rise according to the chairman and founder of SAR-based international moving company Crown Worldwide Group, James Thompson.
In the past 18 months, Mr Thompson said, there has been an increase of about 60 per cent in the number of overseas executives in these industries moving to Hong Kong. ˇ§Companies are positioning themselves ahead of Chinaˇ¦s accession to the World Trade Organisation. They are sending people to restaff offices in Hong Kong which are often regional offices.ˇ¨
