Most Hong Kong SMEs are converts to e-commerce, boding well for city’s transformation

Internet-based sales tools can boost revenue by 14.6 per cent over the next two years, particularly as small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) reach customers in mainland China and Southeast Asia, according to a survey of 352 local SMEs conducted by the Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation (ECIC) and Trade Development Council (TDC).

“E-commerce has become a key driver of the global economy,” said TDC’s deputy executive director Patrick Lau at a media briefing.

The mainland is already the largest e-commerce market for Hong Kong’s SMEs, which count on the world’s second-largest population as their main export market. Three-quarters of the SMEs surveyed by the ECIC and TDC from June to August are selling to the mainland, while 53 per cent sell to Southeast Asia. These two markets have the biggest growth potential in the next two years, the survey showed.