Hong Kong's information technology (IT) companies see the coming co-operation between Hong Kong and China as a great opportunity for growth.
The closer economic partnership arrangement (Cepa) will come into effect on January 1 next year, and will mark the start of a new relationship between Hong Kong and China, according to Oracle's managing director of southern China and Hong Kong, Arics Poon.
Mr Poon expects investment to increase next year as a result of the special relationship created by the arrangement.
'One likely outcome of Cepa is increased investment in Hong Kong by foreign concerns looking for [a bridge] to China. Managing the multinational business processes involved cannot be done effectively without an IT backbone designed to do that,' he said.
Oracle is not the only IT company that sees a great deal of good coming from Cepa. Klaus Zimmer, president of SAP Greater China, said it was about time such a relationship was established.
'Concerning Cepa, I believe something like it should have come right after [the handover of] 1997. But obviously, Hong Kong needed some time to see the reality, and the reality is China,' he said.
