The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) celebrated its 60th anniversary by announcing two major optimizations aimed at enhancing efficiency, driving innovation, and tapping new markets. Chairman Professor Frederick Ma unveiled plans to reorganize the council's corporate structure around six industry clusters and to reconfigure global network resources to better capture opportunities in high-growth emerging markets, including Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Facing challenges from changing geopolitics, supply chain reconfigurations, and the rise of new technology, businesses increasingly require support to navigate the evolving global trade environment. The HKTDC's optimizations are designed to provide more comprehensive and integrated solutions. The new corporate structure clusters services into six sectors: Finance and Professional Services, Global Network and Supply Chain, Technology and Digital Innovation, Wellness and Creative Industries, Consumer Goods and Lifestyle, and Corporate Development. This cluster approach enhances operational efficiency and sector knowledge, facilitating synergy among teams to offer one-stop support through a single point of contact.
Executive Director Sophia Chong emphasized that the cluster approach enables stakeholders to access market intelligence, participate in exhibitions and conferences, match with investors, expand production lines, or tap new markets more seamlessly. “Whether companies are keen to gather market intelligence, participate in local or international exhibitions, conferences and overseas missions, match with investors, expand their production line or tap new markets, stakeholders across industries can access our one-stop support through a single point of contact,” she said.
On the resource optimization front, the HKTDC will enhance its presence in high-growth markets. Professor Ma noted the success of the Chief Executive's mission to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in June, which opened doors for Hong Kong enterprises. Consequently, the council will strengthen its consultant office in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to bolster support in Central Asia. In the Middle East, resources will be enhanced at the consultant office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. To leverage opportunities from the economic corridor spanning Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, a new consultant office will be established in Cairo, Egypt. Additionally, the HKTDC will strengthen capabilities in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Santiago, Chile, to capture opportunities in the Global South.
In ASEAN, promotional work and support capabilities will be strengthened in Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines, while enhancing capabilities in Istanbul and Warsaw. For traditional markets, the HKTDC will maintain two-way trade and investment with North America, encouraging enterprises in the United States and Canada to participate in HKTDC activities. The London office's responsibilities will expand to oversee promotion and business development in the Nordic markets.
Looking ahead, the HKTDC will continue to leverage Hong Kong's unique strengths as a superconnector and super value-adder, supporting Chinese Mainland enterprises to go global and encouraging international companies to use Hong Kong as a base for expansion. More information on the optimizations can be found in the presentation download at https://bit.ly/3ThqfX8 and photo download at https://bit.ly/4wUoMEA. Details on the HKTDC's 60th anniversary activities are available at https://60.hktdc.com/en.
