Hat-maker has plan for city to advance
Business leader says it is time for local companies to give something back to China
Hong Kong companies have been given the trading framework for economic success but it is now up to them to provide the motivation to succeed, according to one business leader.
Pauline Ngan, deputy chairman and managing director of Mainland Headwear Holdings, says Cepa is proof of mainland authorities' continuing support for Hong Kong, but now is the time to give something back.
'The Chinese government is giving the Hong Kong businessman a lot of support,' she says. 'Now it is time for local business to overcome their own difficulties and look towards a brighter future. There should be less talking, less arguing and more working. We should all be promoting the international image of Hong Kong.'
Cepa builds a trading framework designed to develop economic links between Hong Kong and mainland companies.
Under the initial agreement signed on June 29, Hong Kong will be allowed to export 273 types of good to the mainland without paying tariffs.
Service companies in 18 sectors will be allowed easier access to the mainland market. The agreement comes into effect on January 1 next year.
Ms Ngan says now that Cepa has been signed, local industrialists should increase their efforts to develop their industries and increase co-operation with China's Pearl River Delta region.
Mainland Headwear, a key sponsor of this year's Pearl River Delta Conference organised by the South China Morning Post, has had a presence in Shenzhen since 1992. The hat and cap manufacturer employs almost 2,500 staff and produces about 100,000 pieces a day.
According to Ms Ngan, over the years the delta has established itself as a manufacturing hub through continued investment and development of its infrastructure and associated facilities and services. She says many other regions in China are promoting themselves as a low-cost manufacturing base, but none have the support of a trading centre like Hong Kong.
'Things are cheaper further inland,' says Ms Ngan, 'It's not that we won't look for other manufacturing possibilities, but for now infrastructure and facilities are very well established [in Shenzhen].'
Ms Ngan says her company maintained a head office in Hong Kong for financial management, design and customer relations.
She says Hong Kong is also a good source of high-calibre individuals, and having a factory just a train ride away means the factory can be easily serviced without employees having to spend time away from their families.
