Situated at the southern end of China and adjacent to Guangdong, Hong Kong is an international financial, trade, shipping, tourism and logistics centre in the Asia-Pacific region. Apart from having a well-established legal system, sound financial system and clean government, Hong Kong is renowned for its duty-free port with world-class infrastructure, free flow of capital, information and goods. Hong Kong is consistently being rated by the US Heritage Foundation and the Fraser Institute of Canada as the world’s freest economy. Its tax rates, at 16.5% for corporate and 15% for personal income, are among the lowest in the world. Hong Kong also offers abundant dedicated and skilled labour, as well as a strong pool of professional expertise in various fields.

Besides, Hong Kong is one of the gateways to China. It also serves the strategic role as the intermediary platform for China to enter the international market. All these advantages, together with the huge market potential of the hinterland, have made Hong Kong the most preferred destination for investment. According to the World Investment Report 2008 published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Hong Kong was the second largest recipient of foreign direct investment in Asia after Mainland China, and ranked 7th in the world. Nearly 3,900 companies from all over the world have set up their regional operations in Hong Kong. Of the world’s top 100 banks, about 70 have their operations in Hong Kong. In 2008, Hong Kong’s GDP grew by 2.4% and reached US 215.3 billion. The total value of trade in goods was US 751.2 billion. Direct investment inflow amounted to nearly US 63 billion in 2008.

Hong Kong and Australia have a close economic and trade relationship. In 2008, Australia was Hong Kong’s 17th largest trading partner. Total two-way merchandise trade was worth up to US 7.1 billion in 2008, an increase of 9%. Australia is also one of Hong Kong’s largest sources of imports, valued at about US 2.1 billion in 2008. The country’s largest merchandise export is gold, but seafood, wheat, sugar, dairy products, meat, coal, pharmaceutical products, aluminum and fuel are also important. Hong Kong is Australia’s major export market for services, with education leading the way, but engineering and construction services, IT and telecommunications, financial services, legal and accounting, architecture and aviation are also significant. Australian direct investment in Hong Kong amounted to US 1.7 billion at end-2007.

The Australian companies in Hong Kong are a vibrant and diverse group. Many of them are increasingly engaged in businesses with Mainland China. Australian SMEs also flourish, particularly in the areas of import/export, IT and the services sector. In fact, there were 19 regional headquarters and 61 regional offices of Australian companies in Hong Kong and all are doing thriving business in Hong Kong.

Invest Hong Kong is the department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government responsible for promoting many advantages of Hong Kong and assisting overseas enterprises to establish or expand operations in Hong Kong. Invest Hong Kong is committed to ensuring that Hong Kong remains attractive to Australian and other international companies and to promoting greater cooperation with the Greater-PRD.