Hong Kong — for career and business
Cosmopolitan. Dynamic. Diverse. Connected. Hong Kong, Asia’s world city, is a place unlike any other. It is a place of cultural confluence where food, architecture, entertainment and individuals from East and West come together to deliver a unique experience to residents and visitors alike.
What’s more, a diverse population has brought s o me 50 i nt e r nati o nal schools to the region. And that’s music to the ears of Eric Yau, a Canadian who has called Hong Kong home since 2012.
Yau was born and grew up in Vancouver. After university, he spent six years working as an accountant in the city. An urge to head to Asia took Yau to Beijing and then Hong Kong.
In 2015, Yau reapplied to stay and work in Hong Kong under the Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents ( ASSG). As a university graduate and the son of Chinese Hong Kong permanent residents who live in Canada, Yau was quickly accepted under the scheme.
Yau is now able to freely look for opportunities and change employers without the need to reapply for a work visa. His ASSG documents have already allowed him to move from working at a finance start- up to teaching English at a public school without the need for additional paper work.
Yau has settled well in his new home. “The working environment between Canada and Hong Kong is quite similar [ so] I have not had much difficulty adjusting,” he says. “I am able to communicate with my colleagues perfectly fine in English, [and] with simple communication, with my students.”
Hong Kong is a vibrant business and financial hub, and an ideal springboard to other economies including mainland China. Hong Kong is also rapidly emerging as an important centre for start-ups.
For entrepreneur Genie Lam, making the move to Hong Kong allowed her to tap the burgeoning markets of mainland China.
The ASSG allowed entrepreneur Genie Lam to move to Hong Kong where she has started and built a successful business and tapped the burgeoning markets of mainland China. According to a survey by InvestHK, a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ( SAR) government department with a mission to attract and retain foreign direct investment, 1,558 start- ups operated at city’s 40 co- work space or incubation locations as at August 2015, up 46 per cent, as compared to the figure a year earlier.
Like Yau, Lam was born and raised in Vancouver. She graduated from the University of British Columbia and is a chartered accountant. Her parents, despite living in Vancouver for decades, are still Chinese Hong Kong permanent residents.
“I was lucky to be one of the first to apply for the ASSG,” she says. “I benefit in many ways: I can freely set up a business in Hong Kong; I am able to apply for credit cards, banking and insurance; and the government has a lot of support for new companies.” That support includes funding for export trade shows, research and development and marketing activities in mainland China, Lam says.
“Hong Kong is the perfect platform for us to develop our new business [and] especially to start up a new brand for the international market,” she says. Import and export are convenient and there are tax advantages in establishing a base of operations in Hong Kong, adds Lam. The ability to leverage skilled labour, including engineers to run and maintain automated machinery, is another bonus, she says.
Lam and Yau can’t say enough about the benefits of working, living and doing business in Hong Kong and the contribution the ASSG has made to their success. They encourage others to take the chance that they have.
“I will definitely recommend the ASSG,” says Lam. “It allows people like myself to explore the culture, learn about it and have the opportunity to find a job without the pressure of employers worrying about a visa.”