Standard Chartered Bank has released the "CSI Business Opportunities Survey 2024" results, finding that Hong Kong's SMEs are generally optimistic about the future.

The survey found that 76% of SMEs surveyed believe that business can grow by 4% or more in the next 12 months. 48% of SMEs even think that business can grow by 7% or more in the next 12 months, with momentum coming primarily from business scale expansion and new product and service launches. In terms of business development, 82% of SMEs believe that business growth opportunities come from Hong Kong, and 46% believe that they come from the Greater Bay Area.

The surveyed SMEs believe that e-commerce, finance, and leading technology industries will become the driving forces of Hong Kong's growth in the next 12 months. As for the Greater Bay Area (excluding Hong Kong), the three major growth industries are leading technology, consumer, and finance. In addition, 58% of the surveyed SMEs are interested in expanding into the Greater Bay Area market, and 58% of them even believe that business growth can reach 7% or more in the next 12 months.

The related survey was commissioned by Standard Chartered Bank to research institutions from April to May this year and interviewed about 300 SMEs in Hong Kong to understand their views on market opportunities and future development, as well as the environment, society, and governance (ESG) categories. (js/u)

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