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HK is in major push to attract Gulf investors

DUBAI - Hong Kong has embarked on a marketing drive in the Gulf to gain a slice of the region's funds being repatriated from the West after September 11.

InvestHK, the government department established to spearhead Hong Kong's efforts to attract inward investment, expects a steady influx of companies and investors from the UAE and other Gulf countries.

M.J. T. Rowse, director general, InvestHK, said: "Investors chose Hong Kong as an Asian hub because it has a strong infrastructure. It is the gateway to China, located centrally within Asia. Other factors include: one country-two systems, the independent rule of law, a level playing field, clean government, the free flow of information, a simple and low tax regime and an efficient and effective market regulatory system.

Rowse urged companies and investors from the Gulf to explore the opportunities on offer. InvestHK has appointed Dubai-based regional office of A. F. Ferguson & Co to represent it in the Middle East to help potential investors.

He said InvestHK has identified nine primary sectors for investors. "Our vibrant economy offers unequalled services in the financial, trade, transportation and telecommunications, information technology, multi-media, and electronics manufacturing sectors," said Rowse.

Hong Kong has one of the best logistics facilities in the world. As a major logistics hub for the Asia-Pacific region, it boasts the world's busiest container port Currently, some 1600 infrastructure projects are being planned for the next 10 years with a total investment of $ 77 billion, he said. "InvestHK offers solution-oriented investment promotion, facilitation, and aftercare services to ensure that companies have all the support required to establish or expand operations in the dynamic Hong Kong economy.

Whether it is information provision, site visits, business matching, or interface with government departments, InvestHK provides comprehensive inward investment support services to prospective and existing foreign investors."