Across Shenzhen River from Hong Kong lies Guangdong, a major province with a strong economy in south China. Thanks to their locations, Guangdong and Hong Kong have developed close connections with each other.

Hong Kong can further the ties with Guangdong in the Belt & Road initiative and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Area construction by taking advantage of its industries like finance, logistics and trade, said Ms Margaret Fong, the Executive Director of Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).

Since the reform and opening-up policy implemented in China in 1978, Hong Kong and Guangdong have set up a economic cooperation model to having stores in front (Hong Kong) and factories behind (Pearl River Delta cities). Light industrial products made in PRD cities were sold to overseas market through HK.

Later, the cooperation became closer when the Government of the Hong Kong SAR and the Central Government signed the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) in 2003. It is a free trade agreement pursuant to which qualifying products, companies and residents of Hong Kong enjoy preferential access to the mainland Chinese market.

And now, the Belt and Road Initiative as well as Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area provide new opportunities for cooperation between Guangdong and Hong Kong.

HKTDC held a business forum in Jiangmen on June 16. [Photo provided to newsgd.com]

On a business forum held in Jiangmen on June 16, directors and over 40 global offices of HKTDC discussed how to explore business opportunity with almost 600 enterprise representatives among the PRD.

According to Ms Fong, Hong Kong has an irreplaceable role as the "super connector" between overseas and mainland markets. It becomes a gateway for overseas investors to the massive mainland market, and a springboard for mainland firms going global.

Since 2011, HKTDC has organized mainland firms and HK enterprises to visit abroad for overseas investment and business matching. It is said that emerging market along the Belt and Road such as the ASEAN countries will become top areas to attract investment. In July, HKTDC and the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province will jointly-send a business delegation to visit Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia to find specific projects.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

As for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, it's an updated version of regional development initiatives, such as the Pearl River Delta and the Pan-Pearl River Delta. It will include the Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR, and nine cities of Guangdong province, namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhongshan, Foshan, Zhaoqing and Jiangmen.

"Delta initiative" focuses on driving mainland development, while "bay area initiative" stresses external links and grabbing a commanding position in the global industry chain, said Sun Bushu, vice head of a city study institute in southern China.

Ms Fong thinks Hong Kong can enhance the bay area's overall competitiveness through the cooperation with PRD enterprises in financing, international operations, risk management and boost industrial upgrading.

Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area can learn from world's top "bay area initiatives," such as Bay Area near San Francisco, feature developed service industries, major global financial centers. The two bay areas have a similar basis for development such as a large number of famous universities and innovative technology companies, transportation junctions, said Ralph Chow, the Regional Director of HKTDC in Americas.

Chow suggests large mainland technology firms to pay attention to innovative start-ups and offer Angel Investments or other funds, which can boost innovation development of the whole bay area.