Hong Kong start-ups tap Greater Bay Area opportunities as new centre aims to help businesses integrate

Hong Kong’s government is stepping up efforts to help budding entrepreneurs get a foothold in the massive economic zone
The GBA Promotion Centre was launched in Guangzhou on Wednesday to help Hong Kong start-ups, as business confidence recovers after Covid-19

Greater Bay Area

Iris Ouyang

Published: 10:00am, 1 May 2023

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Hong Kong businesses are increasingly tapping opportunities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) as the city’s government steps up efforts to help budding entrepreneurs get a foothold in the massive economic zone.

The latest move to help Hong Kong businesses integrate and increase their footprint in the bay area saw the opening of a new service centre first flagged by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu.

The centre, which officially launched its services on Wednesday, aims to assist Hong Kong companies and entrepreneurs with their businesses in the area and identify opportunities, said Linda So, director of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Guangdong. It will also try to promote Hong Kong’s strengths, and attract talent and companies to the city, she said.

It aims to help start-ups like Brainstorm InnoComms, a company providing hi-tech energy products and digital energy services. Its co-founder, Zeta Sun, a Hong Kong citizen, established a low-carbon technology lab in Guangzhou in 2019, seven years after starting the company.

She sees great potential for Hong Kong entrepreneurs and start-ups in the bay area, especially in developing decarbonisation technologies.

Hong Kong businesses seek advice from local authorities and institutions on opportunities in the GBA. Photo: SCMP Handout

“The governments in both Hong Kong and the mainland have pushed out more policies to support Hong Kong companies’ development in the GBA in recent years,” said Sun.

A network of support including community groups focused on helping young Hongkongers by offering free office space, teaching them about local policies favourable to their businesses and providing consultancy services was among the draws for her company, said Sun.

“We will continue to enhance communication between GBA cities, and make efforts to elevate the GBA development to a new level,” said Benjamin Mok, deputy commissioner for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.

He was speaking at the launch ceremony for the Greater Bay Area Development Promotion Centre on Wednesday.

The centre was first flagged in Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee’s policy address last year, along with other measures aimed at enhancing links within the bay area as the city reopened its border with the mainland.

The Greater Bay Area is Beijing’s ambitious plan to create a massive, integrated economic and business hub that links Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in the southern mainland Chinese province of Guangdong.

Around 200 Hong Kong businesses joined trade groups, youth groups, government officials and business advisers at Wednesday’s launch event, which included panel discussions and networking opportunities.

Several government organisations were in attendance, including the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and some from cities in Guangdong, offering consultation services for their investment and learning policies on the sidelines.

A number of mainland Chinese companies, such as Guangzhou-based tea brand Chali and live streaming and branding company Hixi Media, were on hand to give advice and share their experiences of expanding their businesses and catering to fast-changing consumer appetites in the post-Covid era.

“Other than lower costs, the talent is more mature in mainland China as it is is very concentrated [in some industries] and the number is small,” said Sunny Ng, founder of Yibi, a social and trading platform for non-fungible token (NFT), who moved to Guangzhou to start his business in 2017.

Efforts to increase cooperation between Hong Kong companies within the bay area come after business sentiment rebounded strongly in the first quarter of this year. The GBA Business Confidence Index jumped 11.8 points to 51.3, the first reading above 50 since the fourth quarter of 2021.

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