(Left) Crossark's director and founder Simon Chan, with InvestHK's John Rutherford

The new Hong Kong operation will develop various technology start-up businesses with a focus in China and other Asia regions. To capture the opportunities in the rapidly growing Asian market, Crossark has also established a software development partnership in Beijing and Guangzhou. Its presence in Hong Kong provides an efficient and effective platform for the company to manage the partnership.

Crossark's director and founder, Simon Chan, said, "We want to bring the high-tech start-up culture from Silicon Valley to Hong Kong with a vision of transforming Hong Kong into the best value, innovation powerhouse in Asia. There are many local-born talents with vision, dreams and passion towards IT innovations here. The city is well positioned to lead the next wave of the technology boom, which we believe will be driven out of Asia."

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As a first step, the company's first innovation - an online career planning service http://www.crossia.com offering personalised platforms for individuals - was developed by talented local IT professionals trained in Hong Kong universities. The company believes that Hong Kong is the natural window to launch products tailored for Asian markets.

Based on his previous experience in setting up and running businesses in Silicon Valley, Mr Chan commented that for high-tech start-up companies, Hong Kong is a first rate location. "With the free flow of capital in Hong Kong, business development here encounters no boundaries. The clear procedures and transparent regulations in Hong Kong enable companies to set up very quickly and smoothly."

He also pointed out that the most important factor for companies choosing Hong Kong as a business location was the abundant opportunities available. "Some people think that the cost of office rental and salaries is too high in Hong Kong as compared to other cities in the Mainland and in Asia. However, they have overlooked what leads to the success of top global IT hubs today. Silicon Valley is one of the most expensive places in terms of office rental and salaries. Yet it is still the top choice for entrepreneurs, due to the availability of talented professionals with innovative minds, a business-friendly environment, a legal system with strong IP protection and the huge number of venture capitalists. It is the opportunities that matter, not the cost. And that is exactly why we choose Hong Kong," he concluded.

The associate director-general of investment promotion at Invest Hong Kong, John Rutherford, said Hong Kong has created one of the best environments in the world for IT companies to grow. "We hope that Crossark will serve as another role model to attract and encourage more IT innovation companies from the Silicon Valley and other markets to Hong Kong."

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