Hong Kong's Growing Role as a Green Services Hub
HK Empowers GBA's ASEAN Growth Amid Trade Challenges
In recent years, global supply chains have been transformed beyond recognition, largely due to the ongoing geopolitical tensions and the substantial tariff increases imposed by the US. In order to keep track of the regional impact of these developments, HKTDC Research and UOB Hong Kong collaborated on a new study in the third quarter of 2025. This follows an earlier joint research project – GBA Supply Chain Diversity: Enhancing Connectivity Among ASEAN, Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland1 – published in 2024. This latest initiative also forms part of an ongoing commitment to continue tracking the sustainable development journey of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) business community and their ASEAN business development. As part of the most recent study, 600 enterprises based in either Hong Kong or one of the five Mainland GBA cities (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan or Zhongshan) took part in a questionnaire-based survey. To participate, all of the enterprises had to be committed to expanding their ASEAN-related business and to implementing greener trading practices. |
Enterprises Highly Value Hong Kong’s Role in Driving GBA Green Development
From the survey, it was also notable that many enterprises have a high regard for Hong Kong’s role in promoting green and sustainable development of GBA enterprises. The percentage of those who “fully agree” and “quite agree” that Hong Kong has a variety of advantages in this regard was in the range 70% to 90%.
Compared with the findings of the 2023 survey, the percentage of those acknowledging these various advantages increased overall. The most notable improvements are seen in two areas: Hong Kong’s rich experience in green services and the environmental certification system that in line with European and US markets, with the percentage of respondents who either “fully agree” or “quite agree” rising respectively from 71% and 72% to 90%. These two factors also remain the most highly recognised strengths among enterprises. Beyond that, many respondents also cited Hong Kong’s advantage as an international financial centre when it came to securing green financing opportunities (83%).
Enterprises Place High Value on Hong Kong’s Green Services
The surveyed enterprises were asked to rate their willingness to understand more of Hong Kong’s sustainability services and use such services on a 10‑point scale. The overall average score in 2025 was 8.81, slightly higher than the score of 8.67 recorded for 2024 but slightly lower than 2023’s score of 8.9. This can be taken as a clear indication that enterprises are highly motivated to use Hong Kong’s sustainability services.
In the current survey, GBA enterprises accorded their understanding and willingness to adopt Hong Kong’s sustainability services a score of 8.74, indicating that they are highly motivated to use such services. In the case of Hong Kong‑based enterprises, their willingness to make use of their home city’s sustainability expertise was ranked at 9.05, slightly higher than 8.56 recorded in 2024 and also slightly higher than the average score of 8.74 stemming from the responses of enterprises in the five Mainland GBA cities. In line with the findings of the previous two surveys, the 2025 report also highlighted that there was little attitudinal difference between the manufacturing (8.79) and service (8.82) sectors. The overall findings indicate that Hong Kong has a strong appeal for enterprises and continues to serve as one of the region’s most important green platforms.
About 90% of Enterprises View Hong Kong’s Sustainability Services as Effective
In general, it was apparent that Hong Kong is seen as having a leading edge when it comes to the provision of green services, while offering diverse and forward‑looking sustainability solutions, all of which GBA enterprises seem to be highly aware of. Indeed, according to the survey, some 90% of participating GBA enterprises believe that Hong Kong can assist them when it comes to implementing green/environmental protection practices and shifting to a more sustainable development model, a similar proportion to that recorded in the previous two surveys.
Overall, Hong Kong’s green financial products and services (93%), green financing services (92%), and such services as ESG reporting, due diligence, ESG rating and green asset valuation (91%) received the highest level of approval. A number of other services, including sustainability roadmap planning and consultancy services (88%) and other green services (87%), were also singled out for approval by many GBA enterprises.
80-90% of GBA enterprises expect to use a higher level of Hong Kong’s green products and services
Of the surveyed enterprises, 80‑90% indicated that they would consider using or increase their use of Hong Kong’s green products and services in the next two years. In more detailed terms, more than 90%/ nearly 90% of the surveyed enterprises would consider using or increasing their use of (1) green financing services, (2) ESG reporting, due diligence, ESG rating, green asset valuation etc. (3) sustainability roadmap planning and consultancy services and (4) green financial products and services. Enterprises’ willingness to use these four categories of products and services has increased markedly compared to 2023 from 12 to 21 percentage points, probably as a result of extensive adoption of sustainability plans by many enterprises.
Many of the participating enterprises plan to incorporate more ESG elements into their businesses in the next two years, while there has also been a significant increase in the number of ESG fields they plan to invest in, as well as the amount they are willing to invest. In particular, there has been a sustained increase in enterprises’ willingness to make use of Hong Kong’s green products and services as a means of implementing their green programmes, a development that has underlined Hong Kong’s growing prominence as a green platform.
1 For more details on the report, please refer to Hong Kong Empowers GBA Enterprises for ASEAN Growth Amid Global Trade Challenges
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Original article published in https://research.hktdc.com
