Hong Kong still has many institutional strengths and strong competitive edge as an international city to attract foreign investors, Investment Hong Kong Director-General Mike Rowse said yesterday.

Heads of many private enterprises of Guangdong Province, too, consider Hong Kong as a thriving place to raise capital and a perfect springboard to reach the international market.

More that 60 senior executives of Guangdong-based private firms are in Hong Kong on a two-day investment environment study. The first such tour was organized in May this year.

The current tour, however, has more participants from across the province; only 30 executives were part of the first tour.

Although a significant majority of the participants have been in Hong Kong before, they find the tour very informative and useful, for it's helping them get a better knowledge about the city's investment environment.

Speaking about investment opportunities in Hong Kong, Rowse said the city was still the premier business capital, having nurtured many companies, including those from the mainland.

"We have world-class infrastructure and telecommunication facilities, a sound legal system, a large pool of business and professional service providers and global business perspectives.

"For Guangdong enterprises ready to explore overseas markets, Hong Kong is a natural choice to base their operations," he said.

Delegation leader and vice-president of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade in Guangdong Chen Yaohuan said the private firms needed to develop themselves further by raising capital but that could hardly be done back home.

"Hong Kong has a lot of talents who are well versed in international law and trade. It excels in the quality of its services such as legal, accounting and logistics.

"Hong Kong is a very good platform for talking business and negotiating with foreign businessmen, and that's why we need to explore its strengths," Chen said.

Till June 2006, 736 Guangdong enterprises had set up shop in Hong Kong, Rowse said, and brought in a total contractual investment of US$2.98 billion.

"We hope to see this number grow. We at Invest Hong Kong look forward to continuing to work closely with our Guangdong counterparts to bring more enterprises to Hong Kong and to provide support throughout their investment process here," Rowse said.