HSBC Navigator 2021

Navigator 2021 gives you insights to what business decision makers are thinking and planning, and also provides you a view of future opportunity and challenges for growth.

The voice of business

Hong Kong business leaders expects sales growth in the coming year with a positive outlook on international trade and a lack of concern about labour market shortage.

Download the Hong Kong report to know more insights from the businesses.

Business opportunities in the Greater Bay Area

International corporates are eyeing business opportunities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), where three in four are planning to invest or expand in the next three years, according to the latest HSBC Navigator survey.


On what makes GBA attractive to overseas businesses:

  • higher levels of technological advancement (35%)
  • higher concentration and advance research and development resource (31%)
  • greater volume of high skilled workforce in a small geographic region (31%)
  • a wealthy city cluster and burgeoning middle class (31%)
Daniel Chan

Daniel Chan
Head of Greater Bay Area, HSBC

The Greater Bay Area has shown its potential as a globally competitive, world-class metropolis. The pace of integration within the city cluster, which is leading in technology and innovation with a high concentration of affluent residents, will create abundant opportunities for international businesses.

In terms of investment priorities in the GBA over the next three years:

tech-icon Technology and innovation (38%)

supply-chain-icon Improving supply chain reliability (33%)

digitalisation-icon Digitalisation (33%)

companies-icon Establishing partnership with local companies in GBA (33%)

According to 73% of our respondents, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macau are the preferred entry points to the GBA. In which 37% opted for Hong Kong due to its access to global capital markets and its abundance of professional services. Respondents also find Guangzhou (13%) and Shenzhen (13%) attractive as the gateway into the GBA due to their enviable supply chain for manufacturing and innovation capabilities.

Download the infographic to know more insights about the GBA

Future of Work

The HSBC Navigator: Future of Work polled over 2,100 business leaders from ten global markets to explore the future of work, revealing how companies are planning to meet the changing needs of their workforce in the post-pandemic world.

Hybrid working

67%

see remote/hybrid working as crucial to growth.

Enable growth

77%

see a strong relationship between investing in the workforce and profitability.

The future of work

70%

of businesses globally intend to increase headcount.

213 Hong Kong businesses are also surveyed and they acknowledged the relationship between investing in workforce and sustaining profitability:

Core to growth

64%

are already investing through ways such hiring, upskilling and training talents to capture growth potential.

Hybrid working

96%

agree an optimal working arrangement post-pandemic would be at least partially remote.

Sustainable workforce

97%

businesses considered sustainable workforce as critical in improving the overall ESG credentials of the business.

Find out more

To know more insight about the Navigator 2021, please visit our global HSBC Navigator website.

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