Linking the Greater Bay Area with Southeast Asia: Hong Kong Service Companies as the Bridge
HKUST IEMS Thought Leadership Briefs No. 59
Can Hong Kong better connect two rising economic regions: the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and Southeast Asia? Several business and professional service groups propose that Hong Kong could leverage its professional services prowess to connect the GBA with the rest of the world.
Some scholars and policymakers propose that Hong Kong could “…reprise its role as the gateway to Mainland China for burgeoning Southeast Asian companies and vice versa”, capitalizing upon expanding economic complementarities between the two regions as they grow larger and more sophisticated. Furthermore, they suggest that “Hong Kong is attractively positioned to do so because of its comparative advantages in finance, professional services, trade-related services (e.g., logistics), and real estate development”.
Joon Nak Choi from HKUST has looked into the above pressing issues. He found out that whether or not it materializes will depend largely upon business leaders buying into it. Business leaders in Hong Kong already have experience taking advantage of overseas opportunities from the city; thus, they should have a better sense of the feasibility (and profitability) of connecting the GBA and ASEAN more strongly. Furthermore, their willingness to invest further into such businesses should be a leading indicator of future investment and growth.
Find out more about his research and his policy recommendations in HKUST IEMS Thought Leadership Briefs No. 59.
About The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (www.ust.hk) is a world-class research university that focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science. HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking. HKUST attained the highest proportion of internationally excellent research work in the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, and is ranked as the world’s best young university in Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2019. Its graduates were ranked 16th worldwide and top in Greater China in Global University Employability Survey 2018.
