The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) has unveiled three focus areas for its work over the next financial year as it intensifies efforts to promote Hong Kong’s advantages and opportunities to Mainland China and the global business community, further solidifying the city’s position as a hub for two-way investment and trade.
The first is reinforcing Hong Kong’s role as a resilient and connected business hub and as a superconnector and super value-adder, while strengthening the city’s integration into national development.
The second is fortifying Hong Kong’s competitiveness, by embracing innovation and sustainable development to support the national new quality productive forces strategy and by seizing opportunities arising from global trends.
The third is building the next generation of connected and future-ready SMEs and start-ups, while also helping SMEs fast-track their digital transformation.
The HKTDC also previewed some forthcoming activities and promotions that will support its three strategic priorities.
As part of ongoing moves to strengthen Hong Kong’s integration into national development, the HKDTC plans to stage targeted fundraising salons to persuade mainland enterprises to list in Hong Kong, while organising sectoral outbound missions and multiple collaborations with mainland fairs.
The Hong Kong Shopping Festival, a special promotion organised by HKTDC to help SMEs tap into the mainland’s booming e-commerce market, will return in August.
The HKTDC is also seeking to partner more government agencies and industry multipliers from Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) markets to attract more RCEP businesses to trade fairs in Hong Kong, to bolster Hong Kong’s role as superconnector and super value-adder. To further this goal, the HKTDC also announced a raft of initiatives to extend ties with ASEAN, European and Middle Eastern markets.
To support the national new quality productive forces strategy, the HKTDC is introducing a variety of measures to further enhance the content of and recruitment for its exhibitions and conferences, while stepping up collaboration with InnoHK, the Hong Kong SAR Government’s research programme covering areas such as AI, health and robotics.
Other new initiatives are also looking to capitalise on major global trends, including sustainable development, the growth of medical health and the silver economy and Islamic business, to create new opportunities for Hong Kong businesses.
The HKTDC also announced new partnerships and initiatives to help start-ups and SMEs thrive as the business climate and technological landscape continues to evolve, as well as increased guidance and assistance for the younger generation, who are still studying or just starting out on their careers.
Strong participation in major events held this year by the HKTDC, including the Asian Financial Forum in January as well as three trade fairs, heralded “a year of vibrant business activity” for the organisation, said HKTDC Chairman Dr Peter K N Lam.
In 2024, the HKTDC hosted more than 40 large-scale exhibitions and conferences in Hong Kong, attracting attendees from over 190 countries and regions. Participation from Mainland China and emerging markets, such as ASEAN and the Middle East, as well as from more mature markets in Europe and North America, all showed robust growth compared to 2023.
