Ma Foi Management Consultants, a leading human resources firm in India, set up its Hong Kong subsidiary earlier this year in June.

Country Manager of Ma Foi Hong Kong Ltd Chua Yuen Ching explained why the Hong Kong branch – Ma Foi's 100th operation in its global network – was urgently needed.

"About 30 per cent of Ma Foi's sales come from the banking, financial services and insurance industry. As Hong Kong is the biggest centre in the region for financial services, we felt the need to be present here so we can holistically call ourselves a BFSI player," said Ms Chua.

Ma Foi, she added, had wanted to expand in Asia for the past three years. "We had attained the leading position in India which is the largest organised staffing market in Asia outside Japan. Over the last three years, we've added to the number of global clients, most of them Fortune 500 companies which needed servicing across the mainland border. Also, the mobility to and from Hong Kong in terms of talent pool for skilled workers has shot up in the last few years so we decided to add Hong Kong to our network."

IT, banking sectors booming

Ms Chua said that opportunities in Hong Kong are immense, especially in the IT and banking sectors. "Hong Kong is a mature staffing market, unlike China. Hong Kong people understand the staffing market and it is easy to do business. There are more than 22,000 skilled foreign workers in Hong Kong last year so for a global talent supplier that is a huge opportunity."

She said in many ways the China market is similar to India's. "It is unstructured and volume driven. The geographical spread is the key. Huge opportunities abound in the China market for staffing companies like ours in manufacturing, banking, IT services, the oil and gas industries."

Ma Foi's name is derived from "my word" in French. "We thought trust is an apt word to describe our business, which is people's business," said Ms Chua.

In 2004, Amsterdam-based Vedior N.V, the third largest staffing company in the world with 2,300 offices in 44 countries, acquired 80 per cent of Ma Foi. So, how does an Indian company with a French name which is partly owned by a Dutch company describe itself? "We like to call ourselves a strategic, aggressive multinational which specialises in cross border recruitment," said Ms Chua. 

Gateway to China

Ma Foi is trying to capitalise on the strong demand for quality recruitment services, according to Ma Foi's Managing Director Pandiarajan K. "We see great potential in Hong Kong. China is a leading global manufacturing powerhouse. Hong Kong is a leading international city with a dynamic, well-educated and market savvy work force," he told The Economic Times.

Ma Foi was set up in Chennai in 1992 by Pandiarajan K with a focus on recruitment and human resources services. It has offices across India, UAE, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Shanghai, Oman and USA.

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