Fred Lam, TDC Executive Director; The Hon Donald Tsang, Chief Executive, Hong Kong SAR Government and  Peter Woo, TDC Chairman
TDC Chairman Peter Woo addresses an audience of over 400 in London at the start of a roadshow to UK and Ireland

Addressing an audience of over 400 delegates at a seminar entitled Hong Kong and Shenzhen: Your Partners for Success in China, HKTDC Chairman Peter Woo said that with the mainland's GDP set to double in less than 10 years, "Wait and see" is no longer the right strategy.

He highlighted the rapid growth of the middle class in China and noted their huge spending power, with US$ 2 billion spent on luxury items last year.

Describing the region of greatest growth and potential, Mr Woo provided  "A Tale of Three Cities" - Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Dongguan in China's PRD. He outlined Shenzhen's expertise in IT and research & development, Dongguan's capacity for competitive and high quality manufacturing, and Hong Kong's unrivalled advantages as a platform for China business. Together these combined strengths create what Mr Woo called the "Hong Kong plus PRD powerhouse". 

Other speakers at the seminar included Chen Yutang, Deputy Secretary-General of Shenzhen Municipal Government and John Rutherford, Associate Director of Invest Hong Kong.

Case studies were given by Jim Haynes, Chief Operating Officer of Bookham Technology plc and Peter Williams, Chairman of Conditionaire Ltd. Panel discussions featured Phil Spencer of HSBC; Martin Harman, Chairman of law firm Pinsent Masons; and Dr Tim Moore, Chief Executive of SGAI Tech Ltd, a consultancy with offices in Cambridge, Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Focused and results-driven approach

A delegation of service providers from Hong Kong provided delegates with one-to-one consultancy on doing business in China.

The seminar was organised by TDC with Shenzhen Municipal Government and Invest Hong Kong. It was moderated by Brigadier Christopher Hammerbeck, Executive Director of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

In the evening Mr Woo hosted TDC's London dinner, which he said over the past 22 years had evolved into Hong Kong's flagship business event in London.  The Guest of Honour was Mr Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of the HKSAR.

"We are bringing more UK businesses, especially medium-sized and smaller firms, into the network of the Hong Kong business community," Mr Woo told the 350 dinner guests who comprised business leaders from the UK and Hong Kong, together with senior government officials.

Mr Woo described the Hong Kong-UK Business Partnership, which was launched a year ago by TDC and UK Trade & Investment.

"Our approach is focused and results driven. It is clear that business people have no time for talk shops. Business-to-business, sector-to-sector, this bilateral arrangement brings UK and Hong Kong businesses together in areas they jointly identify as ripe for development and collaboration.

"One such sector is the creative industry. We brought a Hong Kong Design Mission to the London Design Festival. That visit paved the way for partnerships between manufacturers and designers in both cities. A return UK Design Mission will travel to Hong Kong later this month for our new Innovation and Design Expo."
 
As the roadshow moves on further business seminars organised by TDC will be held in Manchester (3 November), Leeds (4 November) and Dublin (7 November). The keynote address at these events will be given by TDC Executive Director Fred Lam.  Meanwhile TDC will stage a seminar in Hamburg on 4 November at which TDC Deputy Executive Director Steve Alexander will speak, together with Mr Chen Yutang of Shenzhen Municipal Government.