Thailand

Hydroponic cultivation calls to mind galleries with thousands of plants growing on shelves under but Hong Kong start-up Farmacy HK is rolling out Farming as a Service (Faas), supplying vending-machine sized Smart Mobile Farms to bring herb and vegetable cultivation right to consumers.

As the Belt and Road Initiative reaches its 10th anniversary the international intermodal railway – the China-Laos Express connecting Chengdu, Chongqing and Vientiane, the capital of Laos – has gone into operation, greatly improving the flow of people and logistics between Mainland China and Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) members, and has also led more and more mainland companies to choose to expand their business to Southeast Asia.

Mainland China presents massive domestic sales opportunities. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) led Hong Kong companies to participate in the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai last year and helped Hong Kong companies find partners to introduce organic and healthy foods from countries along the Belt and Road to the mainland market.

More than 200 Thai business leaders joined a lunch seminar organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) in Bangkok yesterday (21 November), affirming the Thai business community’s confidence in Hong Kong’s role to help businesses in the region grow and tap into opportunities in Hong Kong and Mainland China.

Companies in Thailand, one of the largest Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies, hope to expand both within ASEAN markets and across the world – and could turn to the active financial markets of Hong Kong to raise funds.

As business digitalisation accelerates, data and applications to store and process it grows in importance but can be expensive. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may find outsourcing their data housing to professionally managed data centres is the most cost-effective approach.