The SAR can re-establish its role as a conduit between the mainland and the outside world.
Hong Kong must once again seek new economic solutions through the "One Country, Two Systems" principle - as a decade-long tourism boom starts to end, experts say.
Consumption by high-spending overnight visitors, a key tourism measure, fell for the first time in a decade, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board 2014 figures.
Retail sales numbers were down for five consecutive months at the end of August, according to the Hong Kong Retail Management Association.
Inbound tourism from the mainland, the city's single biggest source of visitors, fell nearly 10 percent year-on-year in July. This is a significant loss given that Individual Travel Scheme overnight tourists spent nearly twice as much as non-mainland overnight visitors.
Italian luxury brands suffering from the drop in spending since last November are preparing to reduce the number of their stores in the city, Counsel General of Italy Antonello De Riu told China Daily.
Today, these same Fortune 500 companies have headquarters in Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing. State-owned enterprises such as Sinopec don't need help to get outside as they are leasing prime real estate in New York City.
But some Fortune 5,000 and 50,000 companies, such as small and medium enterprises in Kentucky and Kansas City are stuck in the Midwest. They cannot afford to have an agent or offices on the mainland. Therefore, Hong Kong should reach out to them. It can also help smaller firms in the mainland's inland areas by helping them expand overseas.
The SAR can re-establish its role as a conduit between the mainland and the outside world.
