Hong Kong should find its ‘unique selling point’ to capitalise on Asean opportunities, global business leaders say
- Business leaders and policymakers discuss Hong Kong’s role in China and Southeast Asia at Asean Summit 2023, an event hosted by the Post
- International Chamber of Commerce says Hong Kong is ‘waking up’ to opportunities offered by Asean countries, but needs to evaluate what it can bring to the table
Hong Kong should find its “unique selling point” as the city strives to capitalise on new opportunities in Southeast Asia, with investors from the region looking for ways to introduce start-ups to mainland China, international business leaders have said.
The International Chamber of Commerce appealed to the city’s businesses to take stock of their advantages and become “part of the story”, as the members of the organisation spoke at the Asean Summit 2023, held by the Post, on Monday.
Business leaders and policymakers discussed Hong Kong’s role in the Greater Bay Area, the wider country and among Association of Southeast Asian Nations members at the one-day forum.
Pamela Mar Chia-ming, a managing director of the International Chamber of Commerce’s digital standards initiative, told a panel on boosting connectivity that Hong Kong should ask itself what it could do better than economies in the bloc to more effectively capitalise on opportunities.
“The question for Hong Kong is how you are going to know Asean [countries] better than, say, Singapore, which has been there all along,” she said. “It is not just because they are closer, but it is because they have actually been part of the story.
“Hong Kong is trying to wake up to the Asean opportunity given that there is such strong growth. So how are you going to be better? What is your unique selling point? What is the value that you bring?”
Some pundits have framed Singapore and Hong Kong as long-time economic rivals in the region and have suggested that the city state had taken the lead, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.
