On May 24, the Civic Chamber of Russia organized a panel discussion on “Hong Kong 2023: The Most Promising Areas for Russian Business”. The event was organized by the Commissioner for the Protection of Entrepreneurs’ Rights to the President of the Russian Federation, the Russian-Chinese Committee for Friendship, Peace and Development and the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and contractors (RASPP).
During the event, experts explained how Hong Kong can be useful for Russian companies, what are the most promising investment areas and the specifics of doing business in Hong Kong.
Experts noted that Hong Kong is beneficial for Russian IT companies for a number of reasons, such as a simplified procedure for attracting foreign investors and foreign companies, the absence of currency and customs controls, the possibility of full foreign ownership of the company, the ability to work with Russian legal entities and simultaneously accept payments from partners of countries hostile to Russia, the widespread use of the English language and the operation of a more understandable for Russian companies compared to mainland China.
RAUIE Chairman, expert of the Russian-Chinese Committee for Friendship, Peace and Development, Vitaly Mankevich, noted that Hong Kong is becoming a growth point for cooperation and trade between Russia and China. China and all of Asia, and Hong Kong’s current role for Russian companies cannot be overemphasized. According to him, after the closure of Western financial centers, it is one of the largest international financial centers still open to our country. Mankiewicz pointed out that Hong Kong is an attractive place for investments, IPOs and bond issues for Russian companies. He also pointed out that with the development of parallel imports, Hong Kong’s role will further increase.
CITIC Telecom CPC business development director Rumiya Rakhimova said Hong Kong could become a “gateway” for Russian IT companies to mainland China, the Greater Bay Area and the Asia-Pacific region. According to the HSE, the Russian ICT market in 2022 was estimated at around $68 billion, and around 35% of Russian software developers sell their products to other countries. According to the “Strategy for the development of Russian exports of services until 2025”, the volume of foreign sales of ICT services is expected to amount to 12.15 billion dollars.
Rakhimova noted that Hong Kong is known for its preference for IT companies, so the number of IT startups is growing rapidly and exceeds 3,700. Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem is actively developing and its growth rate is comparable to 5 best ecosystems in the world, she says.
As noted by the experts in attendance, Hong Kong is consistently ranked among the best countries in the world to do business, occupying leading positions in the rankings.
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