Against a backdrop of the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone and sluggish growth in the U.S., Hong Kong hosted the fifth Asian Financial Forum (AFF) from January 16 to 17. The AFF is the largest financial forum in Asia, and it drew scholars, bankers, senior executives, investors and policymakers from all over the world for several rounds of discussion around the theme of “Asia: Driving Sustainable Growth”.

Speakers accentuated the importance of Asia in the global recovery, and urged an ongoing commitment to free trade as well as greater interdependence and cooperation among Asian countries. As domestic demand within individual countries continues to grow, it is this regional cooperation that will enable all of Asia to experience sustainable growth, even in the face of falling demand from developed markets.

The overriding message is this: As the world’s economic and financial clout shifts eastward, Asia (and China in particular) will play an increasingly important role in driving overall demand, and the region’s impact on the global economy will continue to grow in the coming years.

With this in mind, the longstanding role of Hong Kong as a gateway to China and indeed to all of Asia has taken on new importance. While China’s economic clout has surely grown, the ease of doing business in China as an outsider has only become more complex.

In conjunction with the AFF, Kishore Sakhrani, Director at ICS TRUST and the head of both the Investment and the Trade Services Departments at the company, was invited[JC1] by Andrew Yui, Director of the Toronto office of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and Ian Russell, Head of the Canadian Financial Mission to Hong Kong (CFM) and CEO of the Investment Industry Association of Canada, to speak to the CFM, a collection of members of the Canadian financial industry who were in town to leverage the AFF in order to learn about Asia’s rising influence in the global economy.

Mr. Sakhrani, in a presentation titled, “Hong Kong as a Gateway to China”, shared insights with the CFM on current financial and investment issues that affect Canadian companies aiming to strategically diversify their businesses to Asia.

The CFM learned about ICS TRUST’s client capabilities and gained a firsthand look at the many intrinsic benefits that Hong Kong offers as a springboard to doing business in mainland China. With an emphasis on Hong Kong’s deep economic and cultural ties with the mainland, its common law system and the prevalence of the rule of law, its favourable tax system, its infrastructure, and its international outlook, Mr. Sakhrani demonstrated the many benefits of setting up a China-based business structure using Hong Kong as a base.

ICS TRUST has over 30 years of relevant experience in helping companies successfully navigate the sometimes complex business environment in China. As Mr. Sakhrani shared with the CFM, ICS TRUST works with companies to set up the most advantageous business structure that minimises risk and maximises opportunities for raising capital.

As the Canadian Financial Mission learned from their attendance at the Asian Financial Forum, Asia will continue to be the engine that drives global growth. ICS TRUST can help companies best utilise Hong Kong as the ideal gateway through which to access this enormous, rapidly developing market.