22 March 2018 – Co-chaired by Mr William Wai-Hoi Doo, JP, Chairman, Fung Seng Enterprises Holdings Ltd and Mr Jean Lemierre, Chairman of BNP Paribas, the 13th Hong Kong – France Business Council plenary session was concluded with success on 22 March 2018, in Hong Kong.

Attended by 12 French members and 11 Hong Kong members including HKTDC Executive Director, the Plenary session covered topics including the economic outlooks of Hong Kong and France, dynamics of Hong Kong and French young entrepreneurs and bilateral partnerships in new technology.

The Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-HongKong-Macau Bay Area
Ms Margaret Fong, Executive Director of the HKTDC shared that the Belt and Road Initiative (Initiative) had quickly extended its reach to the countries along and beyond the belt and road routes, and attracted increasing interests worldwide. She highlighted that when global investors focused primarily on the infrastructure-related businesses, they should not miss the opportunities that came along with the infrastructure sector, such as logistics and legal services.

For the involvement of France in the Initiative, Ms Fong illustrated the example of the Lyon-Wuhan rail freight which was developed by the Wuhan Han’ou International Logistics Corporation. Launched in April 2016, the rail line facilitated thousands of bottles of Bordeaux wine, auto parts and agricultural products being exported to the Chinese mainland from France. Another example was Decathlon, a leading French sports goods retailer which developed a direct freight line between Wuhan and its logistics facilities at Dourges in Pas-de-Calais. Nearly 50 per cent transportation time was saved, thus creating a faster and cost-saving solution for both the exporters, as well as retailers.

As for how Hong Kong could play an important role in facilitating French companies to capitalise business opportunities under the Initiative, Ms Fong commented that Hong Kong was crucial in linking the Chinese mainland to the world with its wide range of professional services especially in the areas of finance and dispute resolution. Coupled with Hong Kong’s strong cultural and ethnic ties, Ms Fong encouraged the French companies to leverage on Hong Kong’s networks while tapping the ASEAN market.

Prof John Chai, Managing Director, Fook Tin Technologies Ltd briefed members on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area), which comprised the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, and the nine municipalities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing in the Guangdong Province. To boost business and trade integration in the Greater Bay Area, Prof Chai raised that some fundamental policy issues such as custom borders, free flow of people, goods, information and resources had to be addressed.

Economic Outlook of France and Brexit
Mr Jean Lemierre, French Section Chairman of the HKFRBC, stated that the political complications in Europe were causing frustrations in France. Being the only pro-Europe candidate, Emmanuel Macron’s victory at the presidential election showed that the French people were not extremists. They therefore granted full support to Macron’s reforms with the hope to revitalise the institutional system.

On the issue of Brexit, Mr Lemierre commented that while the UK wished to continue enjoying the business benefits of a single European market, the UK refused to respect all related EU regulations. Mrs Theresa May’s determination to keep the UK’s sovereignty intact was detrimental to the negotiation. Despite continual efforts and unilateral trade agreements, he expressed concern that it might not be easy for EU to reach a consensus with the UK on its Brexit terms.

Guest speaker Mr Eric Berti, Consul General, Consulate General of France in Hong Kong & Macau suggested businesses in the UK to relocate their operations to Paris which was a leading financial centre in the EU. He elaborated that Paris had taken several measures to create a business-friendly environment for overseas companies. Major financial regulators in France such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would also implement new laws for attracting companies. Nonetheless, among the various initiatives, the priority should be dedicated to measures that would help generating new jobs, finding suitable talents and lowering the unemployment rate. These measures would include reducing corporate taxes and providing training and education for employees. Mr Berti believed that Brexit would allow France to take up a more prominent role in Europe.

New Initiatives targeting Young Entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and France
Guest speaker Ms Karena Belin, Co-Founder of W Hub addressed that Hong Kong had one of the most diverse and fastest-growing start-up eco-systems in the world with around 320,000 SMEs and services providers. Hong Kong remained an attractive place for start-ups due to its solid infrastructure support, economic stability, robust rule of law and strategic location. She highlighted that the Greater Bay Area would provide huge opportunities for start-ups and together with strong support from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland governments, she anticipated rapid growth particularly in the areas of fintech, healthtech and robotics.

Mr Cedric Delzenne, Head of HK Office, 55, the Data Company commented that more fresh graduates were willing to be start-ups instead of seeking relatively secure jobs. He believed the enthusiastic sentiments would help nurture more Hong Kong and French local start-ups to catch up with the sector’s development in other markets.

Mr Vincent Petit, Senior Vice President, Schneider Electric raised that innovation and technology could significantly enhance economic cooperation and development and that digitisation was massively transforming the world by increasing work efficiency, encouraging innovation and creating new business opportunities.

New Technology
Prof Albert Yu, Chairman of Hai Kang Life Corporation Ltd pointed out that new technologies were not just life-science but an integration of different technologies such as AI and data-mining. The National Academy of Medicine also raised that the biggest global security threat was not terrorism but bio-terrorism. In this regard, Hai Kang Life was developing bio-radar technology for detecting the bacteria that caused infectious diseases more effectively. Prof Yu mentioned that the world-acclaimed French Pastuer Institute, which was a pioneer in infectious disease studies, had teamed up with the Hong Kong University to establish the “HKU-Pastuer Research Pole”. Such cooperation would attempt to fight against infectious diseases through biological research and teaching.

Guest speaker Mr Romain Aubert, Shenzhen & Hong Kong Manager of La French Tech introduced FrenchTech, which was established by the Government to support French start-ups around the world. He highlighted that the world had invested a total of US$155 billion in start-ups in 2017 as compared to US$50 million 5 years ago. There were more than 220 unicorns around the world and the expected spending on digital transformation would amount to US$1.3 trillion in 2018. While Hong Kong was good in attracting businesses whereas France was a start-up nation, he believed that it was important to identify the competitive advantages and understand how the eco-system of the two places could collaborate to help start-ups grow their businesses.

Dr Raymond Liu, Chairman & CEO, Ingrid Millet International Ltd shared that Hong Kong was a unique place for technology development due to its strong financial fundamentals and geographical proximity to Shenzhen, a major technology hub in the Chinese mainland. The Greater Bay Area would provide exciting opportunities for overseas businesses both in human talents and market access.

Prior to the plenary, Financial Secretary the Honourable Paul Chan delivered keynote speech at the welcome luncheon on 22 March 2018. A number of members also participated in a side trip to Dongguan and Shenzhen from 20-21 March 2018.

The 14th Hong Kong-France Business Council plenary is scheduled to take place next year in France.