Southeast Asian brands are increasingly diversifying in Hong Kong, with demands being driven by the hundreds of foreign domestic helpers in the city.
Data from the Association of Hong Kong Agencies for Migrant Workers showed that there are about 358,900 domestic helpers in the city as of April 2017. Of these, 193,680 were Filipinos, 156,569 were Indonesians and 2,506 were Thais while an additional 6,145 came from different countries.
With these, Southeast Asian companies are continuously diversifying in Hong Kong. The city now has 568 businesses from the region, the South China Morning Post reported, citing data from Hong Kong's Census & Statistics Department.
The number of Southeast Asian companies expanding in Hong Kong is most likely to increase because of two free trade agreement signed between Hong Kong and the ASEAN. This would mean that more companies from Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Brunei will set up shops in the city in the years to come.
Most recently, Jollibee, Potato Corner, and Charles & Keith have diversified in Hong Kong.
Jollibee, a home-grown fast food chain from the Philippines, now has eight restaurants in Hong Kong. The chain is popular for its crispy fried chicken that is comparable or even more delicious than Mc Donald's. South China Morning Post reported that the company plans to open 41 more stores across Hong Kong and Macau in the next five years.
Jollibee is also looking into acquisitions in the United States and China aside from plans of opening 25 branches in the United Kingdom within five years.
Potato Corner, another home-grown brand from the Philippines, now has four outlets in Hong Kong. The chain is famous for its Asian-style fries. It initially diversified in Indonesia before entering other markets in the Southeast Asian region.
Charles & Keith, a Singaporean-based bags and shoe chain, has just opened its first branch in New Town Plaza in Sha Tin in September. It will open another store at Parker House in Central by November and another 10 branches across the city in the next five years. Although Charles & Keith is a Singaporean brand, it has first diversified in the Philippines and Indonesia.
Other Singaporean companies that have already expanded in Hong Kong are Bread Talks and Irvins Salted Egg, as well as the Development Bank of Singapore and the United Overseas Bank.
Chinese tech companies are also taking advantage of the market in Hong Kong. Just recently Alibaba and Tencent launched their respective money-transfer services with Hong Kong foreign domestic helpers as the main target market.
Reuters noted that the global remittance business has an estimated turnover of more than $600 billion yearly. The Filipinos and Indonesians, which comprised the largest number of foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, accounted for $32.8 billion and $9 billion of world remittances respectively.
