Invest Hong Kong assisted 303 overseas and Mainland Chinese companies to set up or expand in Hong Kong in 2011.

Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK, Mr Simon Galpin, said he was delighted to have had another record year.

“The numbers are testament to the enduring advantages of Hong Kong as the preferred location for overseas investors and present a substantial vote of confidence in our city.”

The 303 completed projects came from 39 countries. Mainland China continued to be the largest single source of investment into Hong Kong with a total of 56 projects, followed by the U.S. with 48 projects, the UK (30), Japan (23) and Australia (19). New additions to the place of origin list are Iceland, Mongolia, Peru, Samoa and Vietnam. The top three industry sectors were “Tourism and Hospitality”, “Transport and Industrial” and “Innovation and Technology” respectively. 

Meanwhile, almost 31 per cent of the 303 companies indicated that the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement was one of their investment considerations last year.

Hong Kong’s international business hub status continues to make it an ideal location in terms of attracting a broad spectrum of companies. For multinationals, 2011 saw the setting up in Hong Kong of global operations for General Electric and Schneider Electric, among others. At the other end of the scale, Hong Kong remained a magnet for small and medium-sized enterprises from overseas, which were attracted by the city’s ready pool of talent and simple business procedures.

Mr Galpin noted that the extent of any impact from the global economy on Hong Kong remained to be seen, and added that there will be both pull and push factors.

“In one scenario, overseas-based investors will increase their presence in Asia Pacific because they are trying to offset tough economic times in their home countries. But if the situation worsens so that they have difficulty getting funding, it may delay their expansion plans and hence could pose some impact on FDI into Asia, including Hong Kong,” Mr Galpin said.

“Despite this environment, however, we remain optimistic on the back of the expansion of our overseas network into Singapore and Brazil, and the investment promotion unit in the new Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei, which will come online soon. This year we will also launch our revamped website as well as further review and refine our services to ensure that we’re responding to the needs of today’s fast-moving companies,” Mr Galpin said.