13 April 2015 – Technology collaboration and opportunities brought about by China’s urbanisation and growing outbound investment present significant opportunities for Hong Kong-France business links. This was the overriding message from the 10th Plenary Session of the Hong Kong-France Business Partnership held in Paris on 13 March.

The roundtable was led by Hong Kong section chairman Tom Tang, Managing Director, Asia Pacific Region of TTM Technologies Enterprises (HK) Ltd and French section chairman Jean Lemierre, Special Advisor to the Chairman, BNP Paribas.

Close Collaboration
In his opening remarks, Mr Tang underscored the strong trade relations between Hong Kong and France. “Over the past decade, our trade with France increased by 62.5 per cent to US$10.7 billion,” Mr Tang said.

Mr Lemierre said the slowdown in growth of the Chinese mainland economy should not be cause for alarm. Highlighting Hong Kong’s role as a gateway to China, Mr Lemierre said: “Chinese investors understand that Hong Kong is crucial. This is important because medium-sized companies in France are comfortable using Hong Kong to do business in mainland China, rather than going directly there. Are these assumptions correct?”

Mr Tang pointed to Hong Kong’s unique role as a gateway to China when he outlined opportunities create by the Chinese mainland’s rapid urbanisation. “The Communist Party of China's 2014-2020 new urbanisation plan advocates the generation of information technology, including the Internet of Things technology to enhance city management controls, for the development of clusters of smart cities,” Mr Tang said. “Hopefully, French enterprises will increasingly see us (Hong Kong) as the best place to leverage these opportunities in mainland China and Asia, with our proximity to the mainland and strong business, financial and cultural links.”

Smart Cities
Otto Poon, founder and group Chairman of Analogue Holdings Ltd, echoed Mr Tang’s remarks about opportunities for technology collaboration. “There are several key elements to a smart city and its structure, including urbanisation, transport, energy, water, air quality, health care and emergency services,” Dr Poon said. “A Smart City is more than just hardware and smartware; it needs smart governance, and the encouraged engagement of the population to improve its quality of living. A Smart City should be smart, green and resilient, with a big data infrastructure as the back bone.”

Another Hong Kong member, William G Doo Jr, Chief Executive Officer, Fung Seng Enterprises Holdings Ltd, gave the example of his company’s recent work on the Kai Tak Development project, which is a joint venture project between Hong Kong (New World Group, Feng Seng Engineering Group) and France (Dalkia). Mr Doo pointed out that sustainability had become a priority for the Hong Kong government in the last decade for the development of new districts. He said future opportunities would include the West Kowloon Cultural District project currently under way.

Chinese Outbound Investment
Margaret Fong, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), underscored the opportunities arising from growing Chinese outbound investment. She said Hong Kong accounted for about 16 per cent of the total Chinese overseas direct investment bill. Ms Fong added that the mainland’s “going out” strategy had opened the door to new forms of partnership models.

“China has realised that private enterprises can work with overseas companies in experimenting with different forms of shareholding, and creating partnership opportunities within foreign markets. This could, in turn, drive many proposals for mergers and acquisitions,” Ms Fong said.

She also highlighted the success of the “Think Asia, Think Hong Kong” promotion staged by the HKTDC in Paris in October 2014, which drew more than 1,200 political and business leaders to take part in the main symposium and networking activities aimed at promoting business opportunities between Hong Kong and France.

Creating World Champions
Hong Kong member, Paul Clerc-Renaud, Managing Director, Fargo Group, highlighted the Chinese mainland’s expansion into overseas markets to maintain economic growth.

“It (China) has set up funds to invest in rail, and built airports to accommodate the worldwide connections it needs. The nation hopes to link Beijing and Europe in three days of rail travel. It wants to open the market to industries that struggle on the internal market so that they can enjoy the benefits globalisation. It is turning its companies in crucial sectors such as rail, nuclear industry, and telecoms into world champions.”

French Flair
Elias Rock, Director of Business France, outlined his country’s competitive advantages for Hong Kong companies doing business in Europe. “France has a high level of infrastructure. Le Havre is the best European sea port for Asian companies. Shipments from Asia arrive there 48 hours ahead of shipments made to Antwerp. Paris-Le Bourget is likewise the leading business airport in Europe. Qualified employees are readily available in France. France is open to foreign investment and makes innovation a national priority,” Mr Rock said.

A total of 26 business leaders from Hong Kong and France took part in the 10th Plenary Meeting. This year’s event was the first since the French government established Business France on 1 January 2015, through a merger between Ubifrance and Invest in France. Business France is the French Secretariat of the Hong Kong-France Business Partnership while the HKTDC is the Hong Kong Secretariat.

Side Visit
Ahead of the Plenary Meeting in Paris, Mr Tang led a Hong Kong delegation to Bordeaux, visiting several leading technology firms in the region, including Lectra, Alphanov and AETOS. The Bordeaux visit was in line with the overriding theme of the Plenary Meeting to promote technology cooperation between France and Hong Kong.