Struggling HK software firms set sights on contracts in the mainland
Hong Kong software firms, desperately needing to pump up sales, are poised to march into Guangdong province and take on government-backed enterprise information technology projects.
This development comes as Guangdong authorities move to open up fresh software business opportunities for local IT companies in the mainland, ahead of the mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa) to be implemented on January 1 next year.
'We're very confident that Hong Kong software companies will soon be able to participate in a number of these Guangdong enterprise IT projects,' said Duncan Chiu, vice-president of the non-profit trade promotions group, Hong Kong and Mainland Software Industry Co-operation Association.
Mr Chiu, the joint managing director at Hong Kong-listed Far East Technology International, said discussions last month between the association and officials of the Guangdong Economic and Trade Commission had resulted in a plan to shortlist a group of interested local software firms this month. An expert body formed by the commission will determine next month which companies are qualified to bid for enterprise IT projects across the border.
These projects, which are subsidised by the Guangdong government, are expected to range in cost from a few million yuan up to 60 million yuan (about HK$56.2 million). There is no limit to the number of Hong Kong companies that could qualify.