Ray Heath first visited Hong Kong in 1984, when he was editor of a Singapore business newspaper. This proved to be a major shift in his career as a financial journalist which started in 1961 when he joined the Daily Express in Fleet Street. A frequent visitor to Hong Kong while on assignment as editor of a London-based magazine covering the global equity markets, he returned in 1993 as business editor of an English-language daily, before setting up his own media consultancy in 2000. He explains why Hong Kong's future as Asia's leading financial centre is beyond doubt.

“I am both amused and annoyed when I hear Hong Kong politicians and civil servants talking about the need to develop Hong Kong as a leading financial centre. It already is the leading financial centre in Asia, and has been for a long time.

When I covered Asian markets for a London magazine from 1987 to 1992, it was to Hong Kong that I headed first on each tour. Within 10 minutes walk of the Mandarin Hotel I could gather more information about every market in Asia than ever resulted from hours spent on aeroplanes to regional capitals.

While still well in advance of all other markets in expertise, transparency, openness to competition and regulation, much still needed to be done in those days. The Securities and Futures Commission was an embryonic body then but the financial sector was doing what Hong Kong has always done, responding to the demands of the market.

Hong Kong has continued to meet those demands, and will carry on doing so as it has the critical mass of expertise which most other markets still lack. Even Tokyo remains parochial compared with Hong Kong's international reach and ambitions.

The world's leading commercial and investment banks, investments, brokerages, fund managers and legal firms are well established here. They are backed by a superb market infrastructure, with the best regulation and governance in Asia.

Key developments which have kept the SAR's financial services ahead of the pack include the merger and subsequent listing of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Futures Exchange in 2000, the flotation of H shares in mainland companies, the development of the Growth Enterprise Market, and the proposed enhancement of the regulatory environment through the proposed Securities and Futures Bill.

Shanghai? Yes, Shanghai is going to continue to expand in dramatic fashion and now that the WTO entry is breaking down the fences, it will be more an opportunity than a threat to Hong Kong.

There will undoubtedly be closer cooperation. It is a little known fact that the markets of Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong are already connected electronically.

There is no room for complacency. Of course other centres from Singapore to Shanghai have ambitions of their own. The market meltdown of the past two years has put tremendous pressure on the financial sector. It has also dramatically lowered the cost of doing business here, and as Hong Kong has shown in the past, it has the spirit, as well as the expertise, to succeed.