FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1993
18
"
SOME RESPONDENTS IN THE 1992 SURVEY WERE NOT COVERED :990 OR 1991 SURVEYS, AND SOME COMPANIES COVERED BY PREVIOUS DID NOT RESPOND TO THE 1992 SURVEY, HE SAID.
"
BY SURVEYS
THE
MR BARMA SAID HONG KONG HAD LONG BEEN AN IMPORTANT REGIONAL
• ENTRE IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION.
"ITS CENTRAL LOCATION AND EXCELLENT EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION LINKS HAVE MADE HONG KONG ATTRACTIVE TO OVERSEAS COMPANIES NOT ONLY FOR BUSINESS, BUT ALSO AS A CONVENIENT BASE FROM WHICH то SUPERVISE "THER OFFICES IN NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES.
...
IN THE
ASIA-PACIFIC
"WITH THE SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REGION IN RECENT YEARS, HONG KONG'S REGIONAL ROLE HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT, HE SAID.
++
MR BARMA SAID THE SURVEY REVEALED THAT BETWEEN 1980 AND 1984, AN AVERAGE OF 21 NEW REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS WERE SET UP EACH YEAR.
OF 24 NEW REGIONAL COMPANIES SAID THEY
"FROM 1985 ONWARDS, THIS NUMBER INCREASED TO AN AVERAGE OF 45. IN THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF 1992, A TOTAL
·EADQUARTERS WERE ESTABLISHED, AND A FURTHER 15 *RE PLANNING TO DO SO SOON, HE SAID.
H
THE UNITED STATES HAD THE LARGEST NUMBER OF REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS IN HONG KONG, WITH 206 COMPANIES, FOLLOWED BY JAPAN (74 COMPANIES) AND THE UNITED KINGDOM (73 COMPANIES).
THE MAJOR BUSINESS OF THE REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS INCLUDED WHOLESALE, RETAIL, AND IMPORT AND EXPORT ACTIVITIES, FOLLOWED BY REAL ESTATE AND BUSINESS SERVICES, MANUFACTURING AND FINANCE AND BANKING.
·
AS REGARDS REGIONAL OFFICES, THE SURVEY SHOWED THAT JAPAN HAD THE LARGEST NUMBER, WITH A TOTAL OF 193 THE UNITED STATES (178 COMPANIES) WAS NEXT, FOLLOWED BY THE UNITED KINGDOM (79 COMPANIES), SWITZERLAND (39 COMPANIES) AND GERMANY (35 COMPANIES).
THE DISTRIBUTIVE TRADE SECTOR ACCOUNTED FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE BUSINESS OF THE REGIONAL OFFICES IN HONG KONG. OTHER IMPORTANT ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES FOR REGIONAL OFFICES INCLUDED REAL ESTATE AND OTHER BUSINESS SERVICES, FINANCE AND BANKING AND MANUFACTURING.
THIRTY OF THE RESPONDING COMPANIES INDICATED THAT' THEY HAD PLANS TO SET UP REGIONAL OFFICES IN HONG KONG.
WHEN ASKED то GIVE VIEWS ON HONG KONG AS A REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS OR REGIONAL OFFICE, 96 PER CENT OF THE RESPONDENTS CONSIDERED HONG KONG'S BANKING AND FINANCIAL FACILITIES, THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR AFFECTING HONG KONG'S ROLE AS A REGIONAL CENTRE, TO
BE FAVOURABLE.
HONG KONG'S INFRASTRUCTURE WAS CONSIDERED FAVOURABLE BY 90 PER CENT OF THE COMPANIES. OTHER FACTORS WITH A HIGH FAVOURABLE RATING INCLUDED HONG KONG GOVERNMENT'S ECONOMIC POLICY (84 PER CENT) AND HONG KONG'S REGIONAL LOCATION (82 PER CENT).
/MORE THAN