Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau today encouraged Malaysian companies to leverage Hong Kong's advantages to explore the Mainland market.

Speaking during a media session at a business seminar in Kuala Lumpur, Mr Yau noted that Hong Kong is always a very welcoming destination for business around the world.

He said: “We imposed zero tariffs on import and trade. Hong Kong is an attraction to a lot of investments. They take advantage of Hong Kong as a financial centre.”

Hong Kong is also a window and a gateway into the fast-growing middle-income, high-spending market in the Mainland, he pointed out.

“Within the big population of the Mainland, at least 400 million of them are in the middle-income range, where they spend a lot and go out a lot. They are the main source of tourists. Very often they come through Hong Kong in both directions. A lot of services and commodities would likely take advantage of Hong Kong.

“So in a way we offer a special avenue for Malaysian companies to come through Hong Kong into the Mainland. That is rather typical. The latest count of overseas companies using Hong Kong as regional headquarters has surged to over 9,000.”

Mr Yau added that Hong Kong and Malaysia can partner up to seize opportunities under the Belt & Road Initiative as well as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development.

“With our common goal in seizing opportunities of the Belt & Road Initiative, we can actually go out together. On the inward side, I also see a lot of interest, not just in Hong Kong, but also in adjacent cities, the nine cities that are situated around Hong Kong, which we call the Greater Bay Area.

“Altogether they have a population of 17 million, double the size of Malaysia, and have an aggregate GDP of US$1.5 trillion, roughly the size of the economy of Australia. So that would provide a huge market for Malaysia.

“We are in the middle and we have this advantage of being a two-way street, between the Greater Bay Area, Association of Southeast Asian Nations and in particular Malaysia. I remain confident that the overall trend for mutual trade will be on the rise in the immediate and long-term future.”