Hong Kong's attractiveness as
a place to do business is reflected by two major indicators, namely the
inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI), and the number of foreign-owned
regional headquarters and regional offices of companies incorporated
outside Hong Kong.
A Census and Statistics
Department survey shows that Hong Kong's FDI inflow in 2001 amounted
to US$23.8 billion. According to the 'World Investment Report 2002' released
by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Hong Kong
was the second largest recipient of FDI in Asia in 2001.
Hong Kong had 9 132
enterprise groups1 with inward direct investment at the end of 2001,
comprising
374 in the manufacturing sector and 8 758 in the non-manufacturing sectors.
The market value of the stock of inward direct investments amounted to
$3,269.7 billion. Chart 3 shows the major economic activities of these
enterprise groups while Chart 4 shows source countries/territories of
the inward direct investments. Regarding employment, more than 66 per
cent of them were enterprise groups employing fewer than 20 persons (Chart
5).
Chart 3: Position of
Inward Direct Investment in Hong Kong at Market Value by
Major Economic
Activity of Hong Kong Enterprise Group at end-2001 |
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![](e05-c03.gif) |
Chart 4: Position of
Inward Direct Investment in Hong Kong at Market Value by
Major Investor
Country/Territory at end-2001 |
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![](e05-c04.gif) |
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Remarks: |
British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and Cayman
Islands are important offshore financial centres commonly used by
investors to channel inward direct investment funds to Hong Kong. |
Chart 5: Number of
Hong Kong Enterprise Groups (HKEGs) with Inward Direct
Investment
by Employment Size in mid-2001 |
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![](e05-c05.gif) |
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According to
the survey conducted by the Census and Statistics Department, on June
1, 2002, there was a total of 3 119 regional headquarters and
regional offices in Hong Kong of companies incorporated outside Hong
Kong. Compared with the corresponding figure of 3 237 recorded for 2001,
there was a decrease of 3.6 per cent.
1 |
An enterprise group may consist of a parent
company, its subsidiaries,
associates and branches. |
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