Microsoft Corp is moving its Asian regional headquarters from Japan to Hong Kong. Announcing the plans Microsoft Hong Kong general manager Graham Brant also said the company is committed to the HK$13bn ($1.67bn) Cyberport project and plans to set up a software development center when the complex is completed. Brant said the current regional headquarters in Tokyo will in future handle only the Japanese market while the Hong Kong office will serve other Asian countries.
Other operations such as marketing and Microsoft Network online service operations are also to be shifted to Hong Kong. In addition Microsoft is setting up a team to help nurture local software start-ups that would develop products based on Microsoft’s operating systems for personal computers. Hong Kong is home to estimated 16,000 software developers.
Microsoft president Steve Ballmer will visit Hong Kong next week and will meet Pacific Century CyberWorks chairman Richard Li Tzar-kai discuss Microsoft’s plans for the Cyberport.
