Hong Kong remains an attractive location for business and investment |
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Hong Kong - with its prime location, unrivalled connections to China, East Asia, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and stability restored - is the best place in Asia for business and for investment, said the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau. At present, about 9,000 Mainland and overseas companies have set up offices in Hong Kong, of which more than 40% use Hong Kong as a regional headquarters or regional offices. Hong Kong also ranked the third largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2020 according to the World Investment Report 2021 released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Financial Secretary Paul Chan also pointed out that Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center has not wavered. In the past 12 months, the IPO funds raised in Hong Kong exceeded US$64.1 billion, representing an increase of more than 50% compared to the previous 12 months. The linked exchange rate system continues to work well. Chief Executive Carrie Lam reiterated that Hong Kong remains an open and free economy, underpinned by the rule of law and a robust regulatory regime. In an earlier statement, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government stated that the National Security Law (NSL) is the major turning point in Hong Kong’s transition from chaos to order, restoring stability in society. Judicial independence in Hong Kong remains as robust as ever. The enactment of the NSL is in line with the international practice of safeguarding national security.
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56,253 companies newly registered in first six months of 2021 |
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At the end of June, Hong Kong’s Companies Registry has a total of 1.3 million local companies registered, with 56,253 newly registered during the first half of the year. The number of newly registered local companies shows an increase of 11.07% over the figure in the second half of 2020. A total of 662 non-Hong Kong companies were newly registered in the Jan – Jun period, with the total number of non-Hong Kong companies reaching 14,044 by the end of June. During the period, more applicants applying for local company incorporation chose to submit applications online due to a fee reduction.
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Green and sustainable finance strategy |
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Hong Kong will focus on climate-related disclosures and sustainability reporting, carbon market opportunities and the launch of a new Center for Green and Sustainable Finance to bolster the city’s position as a leader in green and sustainable finance and help transition the financial ecosystem towards carbon neutrality. Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Eddie Yue said the launch of the center will create a focal point to bring together policy makers, financial market professionals, the academia and other stakeholders for deeper exchange and collaboration. Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission Ashley Alder said Hong Kong can lead the way in climate reporting by adopting the first set of global sustainability standards to ensure that consistent, comparable and reliable information is available to help investors understand the extent to which their portfolios are exposed to climate risks and they are financing emissions.
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Chief Executive attends APEC retreat |
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Chief Executive Carrie Lam urged Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies to pursue areas for further collaboration as members of the global community, including collective efforts to remove unnecessary trade barriers and enhance trade facilitation to support open and effective supply chains for vaccines, gradually resume cross-border travel when public health conditions are met and to facilitate research and development. Attending the virtual APEC Informal Leaders’ Retreat (Jul 16), Mrs Lam also took the opportunity to reaffirm Hong Kong’s commitment to multilateralism and appeal to APEC member economies to inject political impetus into the negotiations under the World Trade Organization.
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Over 2 million people fully vaccinated |
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A total of about 4.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered to the public in Hong Kong as of Jul 19, with more than 2 million fully vaccinated. Urging the public to have their vaccinations completed as soon as possible, Secretary for the Civil Service Patrick Nip said (Jul 18) the objective is to have 70% of the city’s eligible population getting vaccinated as early as possible as this was very essential for the community to return to normal, and for cross-boundary travel to other places.
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The volume of Hong Kong’s total goods exports in May grew 17.7% year-on-year, while the volume of goods imports rose 20.1%. Goods exports prices increased 5.3% year-on-year for the month, while prices of goods imports increased 4.7%. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of goods exports decreased 3.9% in the three-month period ending May compared with the preceding three months, while the volume of goods imports dropped 1%.
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Hong Kong and its Basic Law |
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The Basic Law (BL) is the constitutional document of the HKSAR. Put into effect on July 1, 1997, it enshrines within a legal document the important concept of “One Country, Two Systems”.
Q: Can foreign enterprises participate fully in Hong Kong’s economy?
A: Yes. Hong Kong welcomes and encourages the participation of foreign enterprises, and provides a level playing field for all. There are no foreign exchange controls in Hong Kong and no restrictions on the trading of gold, securities, futures and the like. The Basic Law stipulates that Hong Kong shall maintain the status of a free port, pursue the policy of free trade and safeguard the free movement of goods, intangible assets and capital. (BL Articles 112; 114; 115)
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