The �welcome� sign sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland that greets passengers stepping off their plane in Hong Kong is just one reminder of the territory�s strong historic links with the United Kingdom, and Scotland in particular.

The "welcome" sign sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland that greets passengers stepping off their plane in Hong Kong is just one reminder of the territory's strong historic links with the United Kingdom, and Scotland in particular.

Eleven years after Britain handed the colony back to China, Scottish businesses are still prominent among those enterprises, from wealth managers to law firms, planning to expand operations in the region, From the 1840s Britain was using Hong Kong as a strategic base from which to obtain tea from the mainland to feed a growing appetite back home. The British sold opium to the Chinese.

Scots were there from the start. A key player in this market was the trading company Jardine Matheson, founded by Dumfriesshire's William Jardine and James Matheson, the son of a Scottish baronet.

Now an international conglomerate, Jardine Matheson is still the largest private sector employer in the territory.

Scots are still in the region, in influential positions. The Asian incarnation of HSBC is run by Sandy Flockhart from Hong Kong. Its former chairman David Eldon is now an adviser to accountant PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Roy Kinnear, chief operating officer (Asia Pacific) for investment bank JPMorgan, is leading a massive expansion of the bank in the region, with plans to boost its headcount in Hong Kong by 700 over the next three years.

It is not all good news. Business people operating in the region accept that Hong Kong has had a slow period since 1997, with the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s followed by the SARS virus outbreak six years ago taking their toll.

There are also complaints of increasing bureaucracy hampering growth. One enterprising individual who wanted to set up an international school in Hong Kong was told he would need permission from 20 government departments.

However, it still has the world's 14th highest gross domestic product per head and there are signs of change, particularly as the government embarks on a number of large construction projects that will increase the territory's attractiveness to business as well as providing a boost to its strong indigenous construction industry.

A key part of this, a bridge linking Hong Kong, nearby Macau and the mainland, was signed off last week and promises to give companies and individuals in Hong Kong far easier access to previous remote provinces on the mainland.

Among those taking advantage of the boom is law firm Pinsent Masons, a strong player in the construction sector, which just over a year ago shipped out the head of its Scottish business, Vincent Connor, to Hong Kong as managing partner for Asia with a remit to boost its lawyer numbers in the region from 45 to 100 by 2012.

He said: "Hong Kong is going through a slow period for construction, largely due to government inertia in development. But this is going to get things going."

For foreign firms, Hong Kong is attractive because its role as an international financial hub is underpinned by the rule of law, an effective regulatory regime, absence of foreign exchange control, and a low and simple tax regime.

Such is the economic boom, albeit one slowing in recent months, that Pinsent Masons is as focused on advising Asian firms how to invest abroad as on western ones how to enter the region.

Hong Kong companies such as Hutchison Whampoa, which has interests from ports to telecommunications, and its metro operator MTR are among those with foreign interests.

Foreign companies are still flocking in. UK companies now have HK$105.6bn (£7bn) invested in the territory and 223 UK companies have offices there, more than even mainland China or Taiwan and only slightly behind the US and Japan.

Scotland's financial services sector is particularly well represented, attracted by the vast pool of wealth. These include Scottish Life International, Standard Life, HBOS and Aberdeen Asset Management.

Dundee-based Alliance Trust opened a fund management subsidiary there in 2006, so convinced was management that the Asia-Pacific region would be a driver of global economic growth.

Royal Bank of Scotland has extensive operations in the territory ranging from investment banking to wealth management.

Of Royal Bank's 500 Asia-based wealth management staff, 60% operate from the territory, dealing with the "offshore" wealth of Taiwan and mainland China's burgeoning class of super wealthy.

"A lot of Asian wealth is offshore to protect it against political events," Gordon Pell, chairman of regional markets at Royal Bank, told The Herald, drawing an analogy with the historic role of Switzerland in Europe.

The sector is going through a soft period. But Pell said that while the credit crunch may have softened the current demand for its services, this gives the company valuable time to scale up its operation to cope with the demand.

"There is an acute shortage of private bankers in China. The levels of wealth we are seeing is outgrowing the infrastructure, so a quiet period is not a bad idea so we can build up our offering."

Once the super-rich have been provided for, it will be time for the rising middle classes to come on board. This is five years away, Pell said.

The territory is attractive to more than wealth managers and lawyers. Aggreko, the Scottish temporary power operator, opened up in the territory in 2006. It is now reaping the benefits, providing power to the Olympic equestrian events in the territory as well as those in mainland China.

Scottish Parliament architect RMJM has had an office in Hong Kong since 1981. But it is still expanding, with projects such as the building of the media centre for the Beijing Olympic Games overseen by Asia and Middle East chief executive David Pringle from the Hong Kong office.

Teknek, a Renfrewshire-based specialist cleaning services firm for manufacturers, also has a strong Hong Kong presence.

There are some worries about the territory's future. Rising inflation across Asia is one. As is a concern that the Chinese government could suddenly decide it wants Shanghai to become the country's major financial centre. But even if this happens, foreign businesspeople, Scots among them, are convinced Hong Kong will remain an economic and financial power house for the region.