Hong Kong Australia Business Association Limited ABN 64 108 496 313
Canberra Region Branch
We can help you with business connections in Hong Kong and Australia
The Hong Kong-Australia Business Association (HKABA), initiated by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, was established in 1987 aiming to promote a positive image for Hong Kong and to reinforce economic ties between Hong Kong/China and Australia. Members are local businessmen with strong Hong Kong connections or those interested in doing business with Hong Kong and Hong Kong organisations based in Australia. The Association provides networking opportunities on which strong trading and investment links are built between Hong Kong companies and Australian companies. It also provides an effective channel of communications for information on economic development and trade opportunities in Hong Kong/China.
The HKABA is a member of the "Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide" established in November 2000, comprising 31 Hong Kong business associations worldwide with a total membership of 8,000.
Your Link to a Profitable Partnership
The Hong Kong Australia Business Association is a nationwide organisation with more than 800 members in Australia and Hong Kong. It is dedicated to growing the already strong business links that exist between Australia and Hong Kong.
The Association was founded in New South Wales in 1987, and its success in forging closer and more profitable ties between Australian and Hong Kong businessmen and women has resulted in the creation of chapters and branches across the country. The HKABA and its State and Territory Chapters are committed to further developing opportunities for its members in the proven market of Hong Kong and, through Hong Kong’s unique access and regional role, to the vast China market and the Pacific Rim as a whole.
A Bridge to China, at the Heart of Asia
Hong Kong is one of the most dynamic economies in our region. It has long been a model of a free market, free trade economy. It covers only 1,044 square kilometres on the southern tip of China and has no natural resources other than the finest deep water port in all of China. Its astonishing success has been built on a bi-lingual population legendary for its work ethic and entrepreneurial skills.
Australia’s connections with Hong Kong in trade, business, investment, government, the professions and sport go back generations. The HKABA is a relatively new but increasingly important part of this long standing relationship.
There are now some 450 Australian companies operating out of Hong Kong, and another 1,000 representing Australian products. They employ some 200,000 people. This level of involvement is bound to grow well into the future, now that China has joined the World Trade Organisation and Hong Kong’s role as a facilitator of this great market becomes more firmly entrenched.
The Hong Kong Australia Connection
The economic and trade opportunities
Just as Australians have for long been significant players in the Hong Kong business community, Hong Kong also has a sizeable economic presence in Australia. Indeed, Hong Kong now ranks fourth among Australia’s foreign investors.
Trade between the two economies grew by 13.5% in 2004, to US$4.9 billion. Australia exports large amounts of wool, seafood, non-ferrous metals and pharmaceutical products to Hong Kong. Going the other way, Hong Kong’s main exports to this country include apparel and clothing accessories, toys, games and sporting goods.
Hong Kong also serves as an important conduit of trade between Mainland China and Hong Kong. About 15 percent of our Australia’s trade with the Mainland is routed through Hong Kong.
On 1 January 2003, Hong Kong and Mainland China signed a free trade pact known as the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement – or CEPA – which gives qualified Hong Kong-based companies, including Australian ones, a two year head start in gaining access to key sectors of the mainland market ahead of China’s WTO timetable obligations. CEPA provides yet further opportunities for Australian companies to enter or enhance their China business.
A strategic Base for Australian Companies (1)
Irrespective of the benefits of CEPA, Hong Kong remains the best point from which to do business with China.
Since 1 July 1997, Hong Kong ceased to be a colony of the United Kingdom and became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China. Under the terms of this reversion of sovereignty, Hong Kong has maintained its own currency, system of government, English common law, judicial independence and freedoms of speech, press, assembly and association. All of this, and much more, is guaranteed by the Basic Law, which is enshrined in the Chinese Constitution itself. To all intents and purposes, Hong Kong remains the same, freewheeling, economy and entrepreneurial community that it has always been.
So, Hong Kong is now legitimately part of China, and is certainly its most sophisticated and international city. It has a large expatriate community, including some 50,000 Australians. That’s why Hong Kong is so attractive as a regional base for Australian companies.
A Strategic Base for Australia Companies (2)
Why should Australians be interested in Hong Kong?
The argument for doing business in or with Hong Kong goes like this:
Irrespective of the benefits of CEPA, Hong Kong remains the best point from which to do business with China. If a company wants to set up in China, why not choose a city which operates on the rule of law, with the best physical infrastructure, public institutions, regulatory environment in the country? With world-class professional services, Hong Kong performs a multi-functional role as a financier, deal-maker, a trouble-shooter, a project manager, an insurer, a legal haven, an upholder of contracts, an arbitrator of disputes, as well as a protector of intellectual property rights. In other words, Hong Kong is a `risk manager’ for overseas companies, especially Small and Medium Enterprises – SMEs – which want to trade with China.
This is exactly the winning formula of a large number of Hong Kong manufacturing industries which have migrated to the Mainland to make use of the land and labour there, but relying on the modern and efficient logistics, supply-chain management, quality control, sales and marketing and production planning services in Hong Kong.
Further Hong Kong’s investment regime guarantees a safe and predictable investment environment for foreign investors. The Australia-Hong Kong Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement, which came into force in October 2003, cements the excellent protection of Australia’s interests in Hong Kong.
How the HKABA Can Plug You In
From a handful of members at its inception in 1987, the HKABA has a strong and growing membership of 800 across Australia and in Hong Kong. Our membership profile cuts across various industry and services sectors. The trading sector is the largest group, followed by legal services and transportation. Other major membership groups include accounting, business consultancy, real estate, retail, education and travel and tourism.
Membership is open to business executives, enterprises, academics, students and other who have an interest in developing a business relationship between Australia and Hong Kong/China. Membership is available on a corporate or individual basis.
The HKABA has strong institutional connections with Hong Kong. Our major supporter is the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. Our secretariat is based in HKTDC’s Sydney office. Our major sponsors are The Hong Kong Trade Development Council, The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office which is the Hong Kong SAR Government’s official representative in Australia, the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Sydney office and Qantas Airways Limited.
Canberra Region
And now, there is a Branch of HKABA operating in Canberra. The Canberra Region Branch was formed in August 2008 and builds on the existing strength of HKABA with it's national office in Sydney. The Canberra Region Branch also builds on the strength of the longstanding relationship between Canberra and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
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