Hong Kong: Key for Canadian business in Asia

Hong Kong is playing a unique role as the gateway for Canadian business in Asia and beyond, according to a senior business executive.

Philip Witherington, chief financial officer of Manulife, a Canadian insurance company that has operated in Hong Kong for more than 100 years, made the comments at a keynote luncheon titled "A New Era: Succeeding in Asia and Beyond through Hong Kong" in Toronto on Sept 23.

The event was co-hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) (HKETO) and the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association.

"Manulife is a company that has values and experience in Asia deeply. Hong Kong is really one of the best places in the world. It is highly developed, super efficient," said Witherington, who lived in Hong Kong for 13 years.

After being back in Canada for almost five years, Witherington said he and his family still love and miss Hong Kong. He started his certified public insurance business in Hong Kong in 2006. Both of his children were born there and received bilingual education; they are fluent in English and Mandarin.

"So delighted when we heard the news that Hong Kong is going to fully reopen its border since COVID-19, and we look forward to going back to Hong Kong soon," Witherington said.

Manulife was founded by John A. MacDonald in Canada in 1887, and the company moved internationally very quickly. China and Hong Kong were the first places that it landed overseas.

After being listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 1999 and being introduced into the Mandatory Provident Fund system by the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in 2000, it was Hong Kong that became the company's most profitable market in the Asia region.

"In fact, our data reported 20 consecutive quarters of year-over-year earnings growth in Hong Kong," Witherington continued. "And despite the pandemic, you can see how strong we are in the market, with growth in the business of 32 percent and the equivalent of $2.5 billion of net flows into our agency platforms."

Hong Kong plays an important role in Manulife's Asia growth engine, Witherington said. The pandemic has increased demand for health and wealth products. 2021 was its strongest year in both insurance and retirement, and the new business margin reached a record high this year.

"This year marks the 125th anniversary of Manulife in Hong Kong, and we are very proud to continuously operate life insurance in the market," said Witherington.

Witherington noted that one of Manulife's new priorities is capitalizing on a game-changer, an opportunity in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) to strengthen its position in the Asia market.

Poised to become an integrated economic and business hub, the GBA is a special region covering nine cities in Guangdong province and two Special Administrative Regions, Hong Kong and Macao.

China's central government has pledged to deepen economic integration by enhancing intercity infrastructure, talent mobility, logistics and investments within the region.

"Hong Kong will play a key role in the development of the GBA. We need to strengthen our position in Hong Kong and southern China more generally," Witherington told the audience.

Emily Mo, director of HKETO, said Hong Kong has continued to grow and evolve in the past 25 years since the establishment of the HKSAR and it is poised to enter a new era of opportunity.

"Hong Kong is the ideal location and partner for Canadian companies to access markets in Asia and beyond as the city further integrates into the national development, leveraging on its unique strengths such as the rule of law, a low and simple tax regime, free flow of information and capital, superb connectivity to all parts of the world and so forth," Mo told the business group.

"It was not always smooth sailing, but with strong fundamentals and business advantages under 'one country, two systems', a very resilient and hard-working population and talents, and full support from the central government, Hong Kong has emerged stronger," Mo continued.

Mo stressed that Hong Kong is ready to partner with Canadian entrepreneurs to capture opportunities there and elsewhere in Asia, including those presented by China's 14th Five-Year Plan, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao GBA development and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.