InvestHK's John Rutherford (right) with UFSoft's CEO Brett Ho

UFSoft's CEO Brett Ho said the Hong Kong office is its first office outside the mainland. Its next goal is to set up an operation in South East Asia. "As an international city which is home to many of the world's great companies, Hong Kong is the natural choice for UFSoft to set up its first international office. This will allow us to expand our horizons to South East Asia and globally. Hong Kong is also an important export base for our IT products."

Mr Ho added: "The recently concluded Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa) gives us confidence that Hong Kong economy will grow and prosper. At the initial stage, we plan to invest HK$3 million (US$386,000) in developing and expanding the Hong Kong market. We will employ 30 local professional IT staff in the next two years to form a strong sales and marketing team here."

John Rutherford associate director-general of investment promotion at InvestHK, a government agency tasked with attracting inward investment to Hong Kong, said that as mainland markets open up to overseas companies, it is important that mainland firms become more competitive.

"UFSoft has recognised this and is preparing itself through an expansion into new markets - and where better to start than Hong Kong. UFSoft's staff will benefit from exposure to international business practices which take place in competitive Hong Kong. This will be invaluable as they expand into other markets," added Mr Rutherford.

The mainland is Hong Kong's major source of external investment, accounting for nearly US$123 billion of direct investment in Hong Kong at end 2001. More than 2,000 mainland enterprises operate in Hong Kong. Some 270 mainland companies have either regional headquarters or regional offices in Hong Kong as of June 2002.

Related links:
UFSoft  www.ufsoft.com
InvestHK  www.investhk.com