Graham Brant, co-founder of Atpath Technologies, believes Hong Kong is the centre of business entrepreneurship

According to Graham Brant, a former Microsoft executive who in 1998 co-founded Atpath Technologies, a Hong Kong-based software developer, Hong Kong stands out in the region.

"Hong Kong's strengths are in understanding the business processes. In regard to logistics management, import/export and the like, Hong Kong knows how to make that work. It is the centre of business entrepreneurship."

Mr Brant, the company president, said Atpath benefits from Hong Kong's international business experience and its sound intellectual property laws, along with the production cost efficiencies of the Pearl River Delta in the Chinese mainland. "When dealing with international clients, you need strict controls which are all managed by our Hong Kong head office. And this is only two hours' drive from our software development centre in Guangdong," he said.

Hong Kong's infrastructure is a further key to the company's success, Mr Brant said. "Hong Kong is world class. It has excellent broadband communication, and good physical infrastructure in terms of air services.

Deregulation cuts costs

	Duncan Lau, chairman of the Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association, says Hong Kong people are quick to embrace new technologies

Its communications are excellent, he added. "I talk to my Hong Kong office (from the UK) for several hours a day and it is like they are in the next room. It took a year to get this telecoms network set up in the UK, whereas in Hong Kong it took a few days."

Duncan Lau, chairman of the Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association, says Hong Kong is a community that embraces new technologies. It has the highest penetration rate of mobile phones in the region (83 per cent), and over 30 per cent of broadband penetration. With the vast majority of mobile phones having WAP (wireless application protocol) capability and one-fifth GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), "the structure is well ready to move on to the next generation of mobile communications".

"Not only can Hong Kong develop technologies, but we are also very good at using technology," Mr Lau said. "Hong Kong also has the advantage of closeness to China. Hong Kong has always been a hub and platform to China, and no other country can compete with us in understanding its culture and language.

"We also have a strong industry supporting us," he added. "The entertainment business has a lot of content enabling the mobile business to grow in this area, and that content covers every part of the world, wherever there are Chinese people."

On the development side, Hong Kong is very innovative with good exposure to both local and global markets, Mr Lau said.

Utilising ties with China

"We have the capability to develop solutions in the game area as well as in the logistics area, and the market potential for this is enormous. Our close ties with China enable us to take full advantage of the low labour costs of the mainland.

"Hong Kong industries have always strived for efficiency, high performance, quick response, and flexibility. In the growing arena of telecommunications, this will attract more overseas companies to set up headquarters in Hong Kong to do business in the mainland."

	The government encourages overseas telecom firms to invest in Hong Kong, says Henry Tang, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

He added that Hong Kong had made major advances in the area of telecommunications. It is the first major city in the world to have a fully digitised telephone network, and its telephone line penetration is among the highest in the region. International phone calls are significantly cheaper in Hong Kong, and external connectivity of Hong Kong has increased more than 20-fold in the past two years placing it second in the region, after Japan.

Following China's entry to the World Trade Organisation, Mr Tang said Hong Kong "is well placed given its traditional intermediary brokering role".

"Hong Kong has the skills and connections with organisations in China that will further enhance its status as a key world trading power," Mr Tang noted. "Recently, calls from Hong Kong to the US were costing about 30 Hong Kong cents - or less than four US cents - per minute. That is about what it costs to call between states in the US."

Related links:
Microsoft www.microsoft.com
Atpath www.atpath.com
Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association www.hkwtia.org