october 2014 BCBusiness 45 istock
a s i a
Doing Business in Hong Kong
A petri dish for the Mainland Chinese market, Hong Kong
is a remarkably easy place to do business
by Jacob Parry
H
ome to an esti-
mated 295,000
Canadians, Hong
Kong has undeni-
ably strong ties
to this country—espe-
cially Vancouver, with its
outsized population of
expats and permanent
residents who move
easily between the two
places. The city of some
seven million residents
is almost two decades
outside the protection of
Mother Britain, having
long shaken its colonial
vestiges to become a
springboard for entre-
preneurs and companies
interested in the pur-
chasing power of China's
1.26 billion consumers.
Build Trust,
Act Fast
In Hong Kong, a signed
contract is only worth
as much as the relation-
ship that led to it, says
Jennifer Chua, manag-
ing director of Bank of
Montreal's Hong Kong
branch. "Hong Kongers
place a great deal of em-
phasis on relationship
building." Establishing
trust with your prospec-
tive business partner—
which typically includes
at least one eight-course
meal—will come before
any sort of contract.
"Don't expect to come in
and quickly strike a deal
right away," she adds.
But once the deal
is sealed, the pace of
business shifts into high
gear. Hong Kongers tend
to be in a hurry to make
money, according to
Andrew Work, former
executive director of
the Canadian Chamber
of Commerce in Hong
Kong and current pub-
lisher of trade journal
Harbour Times. "Any-
thing can be done on a
24-hour turnaround," he
says. "Weekends are no
excuse."
The Asian
Springboard
Hong Kong is the second-
largest destination in
Asia for Canadian foreign
direct investment,
buoyed by Canadian
companies that buy and
sell into the Chinese mar-
ket and the city's status
as a hub for international
finance. For companies
looking to do business
in China or Southeast
Asia, Hong Kong's stable
common law judiciary
(which can hear cases
in English) and com-
prehensive protections
of intellectual property
rights make it an attrac-
tive place to incorporate
and base operations, ac-
cording to John Richard-
son, a Hong Kong-based
consultant at Deacons
private equity practice.
Add straightforward
business visa rules
and lax regulations on
ownership and it's easy
to see why almost 200
Canadian companies,
including B.C.'s White
Spot, have decided
to strike out of North
America here first.
•
Top five B.C.
exporTs To
Hong Kong
in 2013
(value in CAD$)
OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Another busy day for shops
in Hong Kong's Kowloon
Peninsula District.
Mollusks
($27M)
luMBER
($18.5M)
DIAMoNDs
($17.4M)
ZINC
($16M)
ApRICots, ChERRIEs,
pEAChEs & pluMs
($15.7M)
