Overseas companies in the media, legal services and garment sectors have set up bases in Hong Kong citing the SAR as the perfect springboard to conduct strategic expansion in the Chinese mainland and the Asia-Pacific region.

The world’s largest free newspaper group, Metro International S.A, has established its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong and was recently awarded a contract by the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC) to publish and distribute its newspaper in the MTR stations.

The president and CEO of the publicly-listed company on the Nasdaq and Stockholm stock exchanges, Pelle Tornberg, commented: “Hong Kong is the ideal market for the launch of Metro into Asia and the MTR provides the most efficient means of distribution.

“Our choice to launch our Asian newspaper was made much easier by Hong Kong’s many advantages such as market openness, free flow of information, promising opportunities in advertising and sales and the availability of a rich talent pool.”

Metro International S.A. publishes 23 editions of its newspapers in 12 languages in 15 countries.

In other recent moves, leading international law firm Norton Rose signalled its commitment to Hong Kong and the Asian region with the re-opening of its Hong Kong office.

The Hong Kong office is headed by managing director David Stannard who said the new team represents particular strengths in key practice areas such as corporate finance, banking and dispute resolution. “As these are also key areas for Hong Kong and international organisations based in this region, we see an excellent match between our capability and the market opportunity.”

The director of Orchestra (Asia) Ltd Guy Mazzoni explained that Hong Kong was the natural choice. “Hong Kong is not only the shopping capital of Asia, it is also a fantastic stepping-stone into the mainland and the rest of Asia.