The Greater Bay Area: Bringing a Buzz to Creative Scandinavia

The GBA Spirit: A Lure for Scandinavian Companies

​​​​​​​At present, Ivarsson can see considerable interest among Scandinavian companies as they assess the opportunities opening up in Guangdong, notably in Shenzhen, a city with an established track record of attracting start-ups via accelerator schemes and the offer of co-working spaces. Hong Kong, too, she believes, has an excellent reputation for encouraging start-ups and has proved itself an inherently stable GBA entry-point for overseas investors, largely on account of its established rule of law and lack of barriers to trade. Summarising her optimistic take on the evolving scenario, she said: “Sometimes, it’s easy to forget how well the GBA fits with the kind of opportunities companies across Europe are keen on pursuing, especially with regard to innovation and experimentation.”

Ivarsson, whose company has a long history of working with mainland manufacturers in the design arena, was also keen to maintain that taking advantage of such market opportunities is very much a two-way process. Expanding upon this, she said: “Many of our existing clients are Scandinavian companies for whom we can help find collaborative opportunities and partners within China. Beyond that, we have also become a bridge for Chinese manufacturers looking to develop branded products as we know how the markets work in both China and in Europe. So, while we are the local ‘eyes and ears’ for Scandinavian companies intending to enter the GBA, we also provide the same service for Chinese firms planning to make inroads into Europe.”

For Ivarsson, Hong Kong’s GMT+8 time zone status ideally positions it when it comes to working with global clients and collaborators – “We work while they sleep and deliver when they awake” – a benefit she became aware of when her studio was briefed to design a range of consumer electronics goods, including speakers, headphones and mobile phones. Typically, many of these assignments were undertaken for Scandinavian, US or Japanese brands, including Sweden’s Doro AB , a long-term client that specialises in the manufacture of elderly-friendly mobile phones.

Design Services

Currently, her team is focused on a number of products with a distinct futuristic conceptual design feel, work often undertaken in collaboration with research companies or academic institutions such as Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Strategic design and business transformation are also at the core of work for such clients as Hong Kong-based Kerry Logistics Network. Ivarsson also believes her company is particularly well positioned to work on GBA projects, given the interest many mainland cities have in the Swedish and Nordic approach to innovation and their embodiment of contemporary corporate values.

In terms of her company’s presence in Hong Kong, Ivarsson says she was initially attracted by the SAR’s reputation for “making things happen fast, as well as for finding the right expertise and the most appropriate people.” She also cited its networking culture and facility to make projects happens within days as giving Hong Kong a unique, highly competitive energy that will particularly appeal to companies looking to do business in the GBA. Similarly, she believes Shenzhen is also developing its own, quite distinct, networking culture.

As to her advice for Scandinavian companies considering setting up in the GBA, Ivarsson said: “Go and explore the markets, learn about the cultures and communities, and be prepared for challenges and adventure.”

Expanding up this, she said such businesses should regard Hong Kong as a shop window for the opportunities available in the GBA, as well as being a good location for intellectual property protection, particularly with regard to trademarks and design. In her experience, she noted, many of the agreements made with mainland companies were formalised in Hong Kong, while the presence of Hong Kong’s International Arbitration Centre provides a reputable assurance for all such agreements.

Educational, Medical, Financial Opportunities

Overall, she believes many Scandinavian companies are now interested in investing in the GBA. These include such global giants as Sweden’s IKEA – which is said to be keen on exploring “deliverable, differentiated retail opportunities” – as well as several smaller technology-driven firms with a focus on educational technology (EdTech), medical technology (MedTech) and financial technology (FinTech). In addition to that, she said, she knew of several businesses that were interested in such areas as integrating technology into classroom applications in order to help children learn to read, use scientific tools and master foreign languages.

As an indication of the scale of such interest, she said: “Last year, three delegations from Scandinavia’s EdTech sector visited Hong Kong and the GBA in just one month, with 60 people in each delegation. Since then, a substantial number of those who participated have looked to capitalise on the opportunities they saw in the GBA. In many ways, with regard to Shenzhen in particular, this shows the importance of rethinking the learning process and adopting a new outlook, one that is more about ‘living to work’ rather than ‘working to live’.”