More Overseas Companies Set Up in Hong Kong

Recent months have seen additions and expansions to Hong Kong’s thriving business landscape, through the efforts of Invest Hong Kong, a department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region tasked to promote Hong Kong’s many advantages as a trade, investment and business hub in Asia to attract foreign direct investment to Hong Kong.

US-based Nu Skin Enterprises, one of the world’s largest direct selling companies, has opened a shopping plaza in Causeway Bay. Speaking at the July 11 opening, the company’s Executive Vice President and President of Greater China, Mr Corey Lindley, said current world economic conditions has not deterred the company from making this investment of over HK$8 million “because it sees significant potential in the beauty and health products markets."
Leading Swedish biotechnology company, Perbio Science AB, has chosen Hong Kong for its Asia-Pacific headquarters. The move endorses the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s effective role in assisting overseas companies to explore Asia’s huge biomedical and healthcare markets. Perbio’s new headquarters, warehousing and distribution facilities will enhance the "quality of the services and time required for products to reach customers in South East Asian markets," said General Manager of Perbio Science Hong Kong Ltd, Dr Wang Te Chung at the opening of Perbio’s new regional headquarters in Hong Kong on July 24.

Hong Kong’s first Rolls-Royce showroom opened in Central District on July 30. Regional Director of Asia Pacific of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Mr Colin Kelly, described Hong Kong as “the metropolis for luxury in Asia and one of our key markets", adding that “it serves another important function as the gateway to China, a market that is becoming increasingly sophisticated in the luxury savoir faire."

ECCO, a Danish manufacturer and retailer of footwear, recently opened its first concept shop and one shop-in-shop and expanded its Hong Kong-based Asia Pacific headquarters, demonstrating foreign retailers' confidence in Hong Kong. Regional Managing Director of ECCO Asia Ltd, Mr Michael Sorensen, applauded the company’s choice of Hong Kong, saying, “Our export to Asia increased by 80% in 2002, with Hong Kong growing by 50% in the same year."  ECCO plans to open a second concept shop in October.

China’s leading software maker, UFSoft, opened its first office outside the Mainland in Hong Kong. The Chief Executive Officer of UFSoft, Mr Brett Ho, said, “As an international city which is home to many of the world’s great companies, Hong Kong is the natural choice for UFSoft to set up its first international office."  The company intends to use Hong Kong as the springboard to regional and global markets.

The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), a 130,000-strong member society, has selected Hong Kong as the base for its growth in the region. At the opening of the group’s regional headquarters in Jardine House, Central, the IEE President, Prof Mike Sterling, said the expansion of engineering as a career in Asia made it important “for the IEE to strengthen its presence in the Asia Pacific area."

Global chemistry industry leader BASF Group expanded in July its Greater China and East Asia headquarters in Hong Kong. BASF’s roots in Hong Kong reach back to the early 1980s when it established a representative trading office. The company now employs more than 260 employees in its Hong Kong operation. 

Shanghai-based restaurant chain, Xiao Nan Guo, has invested HK$10 million to open its second restaurant in Hong Kong on September 5. The 22,000-square foot Xiao Nan Guo-Imperial House in Causeway Bay “will enhance Hong Kong’s position as the region’s gourmet paradise?said the Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Mr John Rutherford. The Xiao Nan Guo Group has plans to use Hong Kong as the springboard for international expansion. 

Germany’s largest retailer and one of the world’s top four, Metro AG, set up its global sourcing headquarters in Hong Kong in September, covering all markets outside the European Union. According to Stefan Feuerstein of the company’s management board, Hong Kong offers ideal conditions with its long tradition as a trading and import location and its excellent strategic position at the centre of the important East Asian procurement markets.

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