HKSAR Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology Henry Tang told Softworld 2002 Conference in Canada that Hong Kong SAR's strategy of being a two-way platform for doing business with the mainland has been recognized by many foreign companies wanting to have a share of the pie, according to the HKSAR Government Information Services Monday.

"Over 3,200 overseas businesses have set up their regional headquarters and offices in Hong Kong, the recent ones include Philips of the Netherlands -- the world electronics giant and Checkpoint of Israel, which is the world leader in firewall technology. These actions speak for themselves. Hong Kong is your springboard," he said.

The Hong Kong SAR's economy is expected to be effectively revived by forging an increasingly close relationship with the mainland economy, said Economist Corporate Network in the Economist magazine.

The network has estimated China's annual GDP for 2003 and 2004 to be 7.9 percent and 8 percent, and 8.3 percent in the year 2006.

The Hong Kong-based Asia Business Council, a group of Asia's most important business leaders commented that all its members are fixing their eyes on the Chinese mainland.

The council's executive director Ruth Shapiro said, "All of our members know they cannot run from China. So they are trying to figure out where their opportunity lies within China."

Ronnie Chan, chairman of Hong Kong's Hang Lung Group remarked, "They (the businessmen) know China is where the opportunity is. Everybody recognizes they have no choice. China is very high on all of our members' agenda."

Shapiro and Chan's view are echoed by the Economist forecast that foreign direct investment to China will increase by 7.5 percent in 2003 and nudge up to about 8.4 percent in 2004.

The choice is clear, as China's competitiveness is indicated by low inflation and high GDP rate, Lois Dougan Tretiak, vice president and China director of Economist Corporate Network said.

Christopher Nailer, regional economist of the Economist Corporate Network has called on companies planning to cut costs by closing down factories in Asia amidst the world's recessive economy to keep their production bases in China due to the cost-effectiveness factor there.

"Even if you are considering closing your factories in Asia, you would not close the China ones," he said.

China's labor force and its knowledge and skills are also becoming more diversified and international in nature, providing better support to foreign firms, Ronnie Chan said citing the increasing trend of mainland students going abroad to study.

Connie Bolland, a Hong Kong-based regional economist for the network said that Chinese mainland's economic performance remaining strong is good news for the economy of the Hong Kong SAR.

Bolland professed that the current challenge for Hong Kong is to evolve a complementary growth model whereby it can both lead and gain from the Chinese mainland's growth drives, especially in South China.

One way for the Hong Kong SAR to effectively benefit from China's growth, according to Robin Bew, the UK-based chief economist of the Economist Intelligence Unit, is to build up its transportation network to offer better access to cross-border cargo to its ports.

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2002)