Malaysian Companies Urged to Utilize Hong Kong as Gateway to Greater Bay Area Opportunities

Invest Hong Kong and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Office jointly promote business opportunities in GBA in Kuala Lumpur

​Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Office hosted a business seminar in Kuala Lumpur today (November 8), encouraging Malaysian companies to leverage Hong Kong's strategic position as a gateway to establish and expand in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The seminar entitled "The Arising Business Opportunities - The Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong" was attended by over 140 guests from the local business community. It was co-organised by the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM).

The seminar began with welcoming remarks by the Vice President of the ACCCIM, Mr Yap Heng Or, followed by keynote addresses delivered by the Commissioner for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Ms Maisie Chan, and the Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK, Ms Alpha Lau. The Director-General of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Jakarta, Miss Libera Cheng, also joined the event.

Ms Chan said, "Thanks to the 'one country, two systems' principle, Hong Kong is the international entry point of the GBA, the ideal base for Malaysian companies and talent looking to tap into the region's vast opportunities, and the best platform to build their Mainland and Asian businesses and careers.

"The GBA development has entered a new phase characterised by a higher speed and a broader scope of development. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will continue to sharpen Hong Kong's unique edges and seek further policy innovation and breakthroughs together with Guangdong and Macao, with a view to further enhancing the flow of people, goods, capital and information within the GBA and creating new opportunities for foreign enterprises in Hong Kong to access the GBA market."

Ms Lau said, "Hong Kong is an important gateway to the GBA. As the most internationalised city in the region, the city has the most comprehensive business environment, a well-established legal system and financial market, as well as a series of policies that enable Hong Kong companies to do business in Mainland China. It is an important springboard for overseas companies to expand their businesses in the GBA."

At the fireside chat, the panellists, including Ms Lau, the Managing Partner of Kairous Capital, Mr Joseph Lee, and Sub-committee member of the Malaysia Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong Mr Lawrence Liu discussed business opportunities for Malaysian companies in the GBA and shared their insights on how Malaysian businesses can tap into the GBA market via Hong Kong.

Invest Hong Kong and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Office jointly promote business opportunities in GBA in Kuala Lumpur Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Invest Hong Kong and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Office jointly promote business opportunities in GBA in Kuala Lumpur Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Invest Hong Kong and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Office jointly promote business opportunities in GBA in Kuala Lumpur Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Invest Hong Kong and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Office jointly promote business opportunities in GBA in Kuala Lumpur Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Invest Hong Kong and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Office jointly promote business opportunities in GBA in Kuala Lumpur Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Meeting attendance of members of District Councils in 2024

The Home Affairs Department (HAD) made the following clarifications today (January 2) regarding certain media reports on the meeting attendance of the current-term members of the District Councils (DCs) in 2024:

(1) The current-term DC members were diligent in their work, with over 98 per cent of 470 members having attended all DC meetings or were only absent with the DC's consent; over 90 per cent having attended all committee/working group meetings or were only absent with the DC's consent. Aside from attending DC meetings, each DC member on average attended 28 committee/working group meetings;

(2) all DC members fulfilled the requirement under the Performance Monitoring Guidelines for Members of the DCs (the Guidelines), i.e. attendance rate of not lower than 80 per cent and no DC members were in violation of the requirement; certain reports were incorrect in stating that some DC members were in violation of the Guidelines due to their absence at meetings since absence at an individual meeting was not a violation in itself; and

(3) for the purpose of calculating attendance, the Guidelines stipulate certain reasons for absence that would be consented by the DCs, including sickness and attendance at another meeting or an activity on behalf of the DCs etc. If a DC member were absent from meetings due to the aforementioned reasons with the DC's consent, the absence would not affect his/her attendance rate. If a DC member were absent from meetings due to other reasons (i.e. personal matters), the absence would be counted towards his/her attendance rate.

​The HAD hoped that media outlets and members of the public would have an accurate understanding of DC members' attendance situation at meetings. The current-term DC members' attendance rate at meetings was the highest amongst all previous terms, which fully demonstrated DC members' efforts and work in improving governance at the district level.