ENG-2009 — Page 153

Commerce and Industry 105

Inward Investment Promotion

In 2009, notwithstanding the challenges of the global economic downturn, Invest Hong Kong assisted a record 265 overseas, Mainland and Taiwan companies. in setting up or expanding operations in Hong Kong4, involving direct investment of some HK$4.4 billion and the creation of over 6 000 new jobs within the first two years of their operation/expansion5.

The department organised a range of activities in 2009 including sector-focused events that provided networking platforms for overseas companies from various industries and services. It also organised programmes for foreign communities in Hong Kong and participated in major international and regional business forums to raise the profile of the city, identify potential leads and provide aftercare services to existing companies in Hong Kong. Major events sponsored in 2009 included the Forbes Fabulous 50 Awards Dinner, the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, Society of Publishers in Asia Awards Dinner, World SME Expo, the China Entrepreneur Forum, and the third Chinese Enterprises Outboard Investment Conference.

In 2009, Invest Hong Kong organised joint investment promotion activities to promote the combined advantages offered by the economic integration of Hong Kong and the Mainland with seven Mainland provinces and cities, namely Jiangmen, Foshan, Fujian, Huizhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Guangdong, and held events in key overseas cities, including London, Liverpool, Sao Paulo, Stockholm, Helsinki, New York, Osaka, Bengaluru, Berlin, Hamburg and Sydney. The department also tapped into the outward investment potential of the Mainland through a series of promotional programmes, including investment promotion seminars and workshops under the nationwide 'On Your Marks, Get-set, Go' marketing campaign held in Jiangsu and Sichuan. The department completed 48 projects related to Mainland investments in Hong Kong last year, representing 18 per cent of the total number of completed projects.

Small and Medium Enterprises

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) refers to those manufacturing businesses in Hong Kong employing fewer than 100 people, or non-manufacturing businesses with fewer than 50. There are about 282 000 SMEs in Hong Kong, representing over 98 per cent of all local enterprises and employing more than 1.2 million people. To provide assistance to SMEs, three SME funding schemes have been set up to help SMEs secure loans from financial institutions, expand overseas markets and enhance overall competitiveness.

In response to the global financial crisis, the Government launched a Special Loan Guarantee Scheme in late 2008 to help enterprises secure commercial loans from financial institutions to tide them over the immediate cashflow problem. The

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These represent companies assisted by Invest Hong Kong, and do not include companies set up in Hong Kong without such assistance.

These represent investment amount and job opportunities reported by the companies assisted by Invest Hong Kong. Not all of these companies disclosed the data.