SOME people see Hong Kong as a regional business hub. Chairman of aggressive Singapore property group Sino Land Co, Robert Ng Chee-siong, believes this to be over-modest.
According to his recent statement to shareholders, it was the 'centre of the universe'.
While not every Southeast Asian businessman is as extravagant in his choice of words as Mr Ng, confidence in Hong Kong's continued prosperity is sky-high among its neighbours.
Asian countries have accepted Beijing's claim to Hong Kong and cheered it as a prominent symbol of the coming Asian century - the Asian renaissance, as Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim puts it.
When a federation of Hong Kong business groups invited foreign consulates to take part in an official parade on July 2 to celebrate the arrival of Chinese sovereignty, the Far Eastern Economic Review noted that the Philippines, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia all rushed forward with offers of marching bands, dance troupes and other shows.
Western governments, more preoccupied with concerns over the prospects for human rights, were notably slower off the mark.