As members of Group 18 are mainly from the professional services sector, including legal, arbitration, accounting, financial services and quality assurance, the Group monitors regulatory, business and economic developments in these professional practice areas, not only in the Hong Kong  but also in the PRD and indeed globally as many of the clients are global companies.  Ensuring compliance, promoting sound corporate governance and enhancing good business practices are the constant agendas of the Group as regulatory requirements are ever evolving.  Shortage of experience personnel and inflationary impact of remuneration are the two biggest challenges facing most of the Group members to service their clients in the PRD.

With the implementation of further liberalisation measures under the fourth round of CEPA in June 2006, professional services providers based in Hong Kong will be able to expand their business further in mainland China, and at the same time, will be able to facilitate and enhance the exchange of professional expertise and information with their mainland counterparts.  The outlook therefore is promising but competitive

The Government has actively promoted electronic services for documentation, with a vast quantity of Government documentation being gradually converted to electronic format. Such high-quality and reliable service is indeed a prime ingredient for Hong Kong¡¦s competitiveness. At present, the Government and majority of large, medium and small enterprises can take advantage of the safe and reliable infrastructure to process their documentation and boost their operation efficiency and competitiveness.  

We continue towards high-technology development regarding electronic trade processing and anticipate trade associated electronic services will advance and become prevalent. To further boost our competitiveness, and in the light of Government efforts to develop Hong Kong as a logistics hub, the world¡¦s first electronic logistics platform has been successful established in Hong Kong. This platform will set the operational standards for regional and global electronic trade and logistics services.  

Executive Committee °õ©e·|