“I love Hong Kong. It has everything, and everything here is very convenient.” Having lived in Hong Kong for 40 years, Allan Zeman, Chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group, shared why he chooses Hong Kong, and why he gave up his Canadian passport to become a Chinese citizen in 2008 in an exclusive interview with GDToday.

Zeman came to Hong Kong in 1960s and has spent most of his life here. Back then, he was in the fashion business, with many buyers and designers coming from overseas. At that time, most of the restaurants, bars and clubs were all in hotels, not on the street like today.

“If you went to the hotel, you need to wear formal clothes. However, it was more casual in our fashion business.” Then, he thought to himself, Hong Kong needs a place where his designers and buyers can hang out. That’s what inspired him to start up Lan Kwai Fong, “because it’s so international.”

In this entrepreneurial icon’s eyes, Hong Kong is the “super connector” between the West and the East. It is trusted in the world as a place where financial services can really work, with the second largest stock market in the world and a low tax base. He predicts, Hong Kong will continue to be a very strong place.

Along with the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which means a surge of population and trillions of US dollars, the entrepreneur sees broad prospects: “Greater Bay Area is definitely where I want to be.”

Planning | Zhao Yang

Reporter | Hannah

Video | Zhang Ruilin

Editor | Keane, Ou Xiaoming, Jerry