Indonesia

Business links between Hong Kong and Southeast Asia are growing faster than a rain-forest bamboo grove, prompting the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) to organise a mission to Singapore, the business hub of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Indonesia, the biggest ASEAN member, and nimble technology developer Malaysia.

Indonesian companies could turn to Hong Kong as a fund-raising platform, drawn by the city’s global financial-hub status and strengths in finance, technology and other sectors which are growing rapidly in the archipelago.

Many big, resource-rich countries have special-purpose capitals – think Brasilia, Canberra or Ottawa – and Indonesia plans to do the same, establishing a smart city Nusantara on the east coast of Borneo as a new home for the capital, which is now Jakarta.

As the largest Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) country prepares to shift its capital from Jakarta on Java Island to the less crowded Borneo Island, Hong Kong infrastructure development and real estate-related services companies will have many investment and business opportunities.

As Hong Kong reopens its doors to Mainland China and the world at large, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) will roll out a full season of global trade fairs and conferences, coupled with a plethora of overseas promotions, to create opportunities for the Hong Kong, mainland and international business communities.

Many children learning English as a foreign language grow up in households where there are no English speakers, and lose out on the chance to learn through conversation.