Hong Kong’s InvestHK lures 2 new infrastructure firms to city, 6 others expand presence in 2023
- InvestHK head of business and professional services Herman Tse Yu-man says more foreign investments are expected in the coming year
- Agency expects the eight firms’ moves to bring 250 full-time jobs, such as for engineers, to the Hong Kong market over the next two years
The agency in charge of attracting foreign investment expects more infrastructure companies to come to Hong Kong to explore new projects this year, after it lured eight such firms, both Chinese state-owned and from overseas, to set up or expand their business in the city in 2023.
InvestHK head of business and professional services Herman Tse Yu-man gave an upbeat assessment on Tuesday, saying even more foreign investments were expected in the coming year, as Western companies were looking at new projects overseas due to the economic downturn at home.
“The news we have received indicates that in many foreign countries, large infrastructure projects have had to be called off,” he said.
“Hong Kong is one of the few remaining cities in the world right now that still has the resources to build large-scale infrastructure.”
The agency said in the past year, it had successfully attracted two overseas companies to set up offices in Hong Kong, while six more had expanded their presence.
A newcomer was Ailytics – a Singaporean video analytics company that uses artificial intelligence to enhance safety and productivity for companies in the construction and manufacturing industries.
Consulting firm Shanghai Municipal Engineering Design Institute also made the decision to enter the Hong Kong market.
Meanwhile, French-originated waste management services company Suez Asia and Singapore’s SMEC Asia added to their investments in the city.
The other four were mainland Chinese firms, comprising state-owned railway enterprise subsidiaries China Railway Group Investment, China Railway Electrification Group and CRCC International Investment Group, as well as Shanghai Tunnel Engineering.
InvestHK said it expected the latest moves by the eight companies combined would bring 250 full-time jobs, such as engineers, to the Hong Kong market over the next two years.
They would also provide work for up to 10,000 construction labourers throughout the same period.
Tse said his goal for the coming year was to attract 12 more investment projects, and pointed to the city’s advantages over regional competitors such as Singapore.
While Singapore also had a significant amount of infrastructure developments, he said, it lacked a large-scale, new urban project like the Northern Metropolis, and it also had stricter requirements for foreign investment such as minimum requirements for hiring local staff.
Regarding the implementation of domestic national security legislation under Article 23 of the city’s mini-constitution, Tse said foreign companies did not express concern to him about it.
“I can only speak from my own experience, but nobody has ever asked me about it,” he said. “I recently went to Australia and it was not brought up.”
Tse said tasks for the coming year included more trips to the Middle East and Europe. The focus would be on belt and road countries such as Turkey and those in the Middle East and Africa.
