This is the first large-scale promotion event held in Guangdong Province by the Task Force on Supporting Mainland Enterprises in Going Global (GoGlobal Task Force), steered by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development. Mr Yau and the Director General of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province, Ms Chen Liwen, delivered speeches at the event. Other guests included the Vice-Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress and Deputy Secretary of the Leading Party Group of the Committee, Mr Huang Ningsheng.
Mr Yau stated that this year marks the preparatory year for the National 15th Five-Year Plan, which explicitly supports Hong Kong in leveraging its professional strengths to assist enterprises in their going-global endeavours. Under the "one country, two systems" principle, Hong Kong enjoys the unique advantages of having the strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world, making it an ideal platform for Mainland enterprises to expand into overseas markets.
He added that the GoGlobal Task Force is actively undertaking various tasks to better leverage Hong Kong's advantages in supporting Mainland enterprises' international expansion. The Task Force recently launched the GoGlobal Connect, a cross-sectoral professional services e-platform that provides case-based Hong Kong professional services to Mainland enterprises and conducts promotional activities in different provinces and cities across the Mainland. The Task Force is also actively assisting Mainland enterprises in setting up offices and businesses in Hong Kong, organising overseas delegations to help these enterprises understand the local business environment and development opportunities in target markets, and leveraging the trio of the overseas Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices, InvestHK, and the HKTDC's overseas offices to assist Mainland enterprises to expand overseas. He also expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Commerce and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau for signing the Memorandum of Understanding on strengthening co-operation and exchange in the provision of comprehensive overseas services in February this year, providing solid top-level policy support for the GoGlobal Task Force.
In her speech, Ms Chen said that the collaboration between Guangdong and Hong Kong to go global is in line with the current international situation. The collaboration promotes the strategic needs of regional development, and provides the best choices to leverage the synergistic advantages of Guangdong and Hong Kong. It is timely and has great potential. In recent years, Guangdong and Hong Kong have jointly made efforts to establish mechanisms, policies, and platforms for enterprises to go global, making solid progress. In March this year, Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao jointly launched the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Enterprises Overseas Professional Service Alliance, which has brought together more than 100 outstanding professional service institutions in five categories, namely law, accounting, finance, information technology and marketing, from Hong Kong and Macao. The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the People's Government of Guangdong Province will focus on advancing four key areas: first, strengthening policy support to ensure that policy benefits are delivered efficiently and effectively; second, expanding channels by building more matchmaking and collaboration platforms; third, enhancing talent support to equip enterprises with both resources and expertise for overseas expansion; and fourth, improving the supply of services by creating a world-class development ecosystem. These efforts aim to help enterprises address practical challenges in cross-boundary operations, customs clearance facilitation, and resource allocation, promote in-depth collaboration under the model of "Guangdong manufacturing + Hong Kong and Macao services + international markets," and support enterprises in going global successfully.
Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion of InvestHK Mr Arnold Lau and the HKTDC Regional Director for Southern China, Mr Peter Wong, delivered keynote speeches. They encouraged Mainland enterprises to choose Hong Kong as their preferred base for overseas expansion, and introduced how Hong Kong can assist Mainland enterprises in expanding into international markets, so that they can find their own "value-added leverage point" in Hong Kong. From financial capital to an innovation ecosystem, from intellectual property protection to high-end talent, and from a well-established legal system to the Northern Metropolis, Hong Kong offers comprehensive and multidimensional support for Mainland enterprises to go global. Hong Kong's international professional services will also serve as an accelerator for Mainland enterprises' overseas expansion.
The seminar invited a pharmaceutical company from Guangzhou to share its successful experiences of expanding overseas via Hong Kong. It also featured a panel discussion moderated by Deputy Director of the GDETO and the Head of Business and Talent Attraction/Investment Promotion of InvestHK Guangzhou Office, Ms Helen Yip. Representatives from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, Hong Kong professional services providers offering legal, mediation, tax, and accounting services, as well as technology enterprises that have successfully expanded overseas via Hong Kong explored how Hong Kong's advantages can empower Guangdong enterprises to better expand into overseas markets. The GoGlobal Task Force has previously held similar seminars in Shanghai, Beijing, and Shandong, promoting the advantages of using Hong Kong as a platform for Mainland enterprises to expand overseas, as well as the work of the Task Force.
The GoGlobal Task Force, steered by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, was established in October last year to provide Mainland enterprises with cross-bureaux, cross-department, and cross-agency one-stop support services for expanding overseas via Hong Kong. In addition to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the Task Force comprises the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, InvestHK, the HKTDC, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, as well as other members.
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