在香港的法國小老闆

It is not unusual to feel homesick while working abroad but when Jérôme spitzer began to pine for the classic bistro fare he loved as a boy in Paris, he resisted hopping on to the next flight to Charles de Gaulle airport and took action.

在國外工作時想念家鄉並不罕見，但當傑羅姆•斯皮策(Jérôme Spitzer)開始想念他小時候在巴黎鍾愛的那種經典小館菜餚時，他頂住了誘惑，沒有登上下一班飛往戴高樂機場的航班，而是行動了起來。

The 25-year-old, who had arrived in Hong Kong 18 Months earlier to work for a Spanish importer, found a kindred spirit in another French expatriate. Undaunted by the unfolding global financial crisis, the pair trawled the streets of Central, Hong Kong’s glitzy entertainment district, searching for small premises suitable for a traditional French-style bistro.

18個月前，這位25歲的年輕人來到香港爲一家西班牙進口商工作，他發現一位與他志趣相投的法國同胞。二人不懼全球金融危機蔓延的影響，在香港華麗耀眼的娛樂區中環地區的街道上，尋找適合開設傳統法式小館的小店面。

The result was Pastis, which opened in 2009.

結果是Pastis在2009年開門迎賓。

Five years later they have six establishments dotted around Hong Kong Island, each styled to evoke a particular type of French brasserie. Step into Saint-Germain and you could be in an elegant café on Paris’s Left Bank, while Metropolitain in the upcoming Sai Ying Pun neighbourhood evokes an artsy Montmartre atmosphere.

5年後，他們已在香港島上擁了有6家門店，每家都透露出獨特的法國小館風格。步入Saint-Germain，彷彿置身於巴黎左岸一個優雅的咖啡館，而西營盤高街地區的Metropolitain則煥發出一種蒙馬特藝術氣息。

Today Mr Spitzer reflects on his decision to go into business, describing it as “a very selfish move, as much as for us as for the French community”.

如今，斯皮策在回想他從商的決定時，把它稱爲“一種非常利己的舉動，既爲了我們自己，也爲了法國人羣體”。

Hong Kong has long been home to French bankers and civil engineers, but Mr Spitzer exemplifies a new breed of French expatriate that has emerged in the territory in recent years: the petit entrepreneur.

長期以來，很多法國銀行家和土木工程師不斷來到香港，但斯皮策是最近幾年在香港新出現的一類典型法國人：小企業主。

Five years ago small- and medium-sized businesses made up about 40 per cent of the businesses registered with the French chamber of commerce in Hong Kong; today this proportion has risen to 50 per cent.

5年前，中小型企業佔香港法國工商總會註冊企業總數的40%左右：如今這一比例已升至50%。

“French businesses in the city are really a snapshot of Hong Kong’s gross domestic product”, says Orianne Chenain, executive director of the French chamber of commerce. Expatriates have started businesses in all sorts of sectors, including retail, construction and hospitality.

法國工商總會執行董事奧里亞納•舍南(Orianne Chenain)表示：“在港法國企業確實爲香港的地區生產總值(GDP)做出了廣泛貢獻”。在香港的法國人在零售、建築和餐飲等各行各業開辦了企業。

There are a number of factors propelling this trend: the perceived ease of doing business compared to France, the appeal of French products to native Hong Kongers and expatriates alike as well as the growing French community itself, which reinforces the demand for homegrown goods and services.

推動這一趨勢的因素很多：據認爲香港具備比法國更明顯的經商便利性，同時法國產品吸引着香港本地人和外籍人士以及不斷壯大的法國人羣體，這些促進了對法國國產商品和服務的需求。

More than 11,100 French citizens registered at the French Consulate in Hong Kong last year, almost double the 6,236 who did so in 2007, fuelled by the desire to seek opportunities away from their homeland. However officials estimate the real number is far higher – around 17,000.

去年，在法國駐香港總領事館註冊的法國公民超過了1.11萬，幾乎是2007年（6236人）的兩倍，這得益於法國人希望在本國以外尋找機會。然而，官員們估計，實際數字要高的多，大約爲1.7萬人。

The French entrepreneurs believe setting up a business in Hong Kong is easier than it would be back home, given the relative lack of bureaucracy and low start-up costs. “The legal environment in France is perceived by French entrepreneurs as being more constrained,” says Ms Chenain.

法國創業者認爲，香港官僚作風相對較少且創業成本較低，因而在香港創業要比在法國容易。舍南表示：“法國創業者認爲，法國的法律環境限制更多。”

Mr Spitzer estimates that, had he set up a similar bistro in France, the cost would have been two to three times as great in Hong Kong.

斯皮策估計，如果他在法國開一家類似的小餐館，成本將是香港的兩到三倍。

“Hong Kong gave us the will to start as entrepreneurs and also the idea to set up our own company,” he says. “When we first came to Hong Kong we were not expecting to do something so fast.”

“香港讓我們有了創業的意願，還賦予了我們創建自己公司的想法，”他表示，“當我們初到香港時，我們沒有料到事情會進展這麼快。”

Rents are higher in Hong Kong, he notes, but the costs of doing business are mitigated by lower tax and longer opening hours.

他指出，香港的租金較高，但較低的稅率以及較長的營業時間，都降低了經商成本。

Anthony Rendall, a French expatriate, swapped a life penning travel guides for French publisher Gallimard to launch a business importing French wine for the Hong Kong market. He says that the time and paperwork needed to register a business is far less.

法國人安東尼•倫德爾(Anthony Rendall)原來的工作是爲法國出版社Gallimard撰寫旅行指南，如今他開設了一家公司，爲香港市場進口法國紅酒。他表示，註冊企業所需時間和填表申請工作比法國要少得多。

“Within two days and for HK$150 (£12) I had a limited company, a bank account and was set for business,” he says. “Everything was made so simple from the first day.”

“我用兩天不到的時間花150港元（合12英鎊）就擁有了一家有限公司、一個銀行賬戶，可以開業了，”他表示，“從第一天起，一切都是如此簡單。”

The perception of the French lifestyle as the epitome of style by Hong Kong Chinese and tourists from mainland China is a large part of the reason why French consumer and leisure businesses are proliferating in Hong Kong.

香港華人和來自中國內地的遊客將法國生活方式視爲風尚的典範，這是法國消費和休閒企業在香港不斷增多的一個很重要的原因。

Mr Rendall, who retained a deep affection for Hong Kong after being brought up there, spotted a gap in the market for selling good quality, affordable French wine.

倫德爾在香港長大，對香港有着很深的感情，他發現香港在質量上乘的平價法國紅酒銷售市場存在一個空白。

“Most of the upper tier wines are very expensive and of the middle range wines very little is available, and they are mostly New World wines,” he says. “If you want to buy something good the price is HK$300, in France the prices are a third of that.”

“多數高檔紅酒價格非常昂貴，而市場上中檔紅酒非常少，多數是新世界葡萄酒（New World，指除歐洲以外產區的葡萄酒），”他表示，“如果你想買一些不錯的紅酒，價格在300港元，而在法國，價格只有香港的三分之一。”

In May, together with his sister, a wine critic, he launched the business and also began hosting wine-tasting sessions aboard a traditional junk boat, a type of outing perennially popular with expats.

今年5月，他與身爲酒評家的姐姐開了這家公司，還開始在一艘傳統的仿古船上開設品酒會，這種出遊方式在香港外籍人士中一直很受歡迎。

“A junk is part of the Hong Kong lifestyle and part of the French lifestyle was missing,” he says.

他表示：“仿古船是香港生活方式的一部分，法國的部分生活方式正在消失。”

Contrasting his childhood memories of a virtually empty French school during the seventies to the present day, he believes the swelling community in itself encourages more to follow in their footsteps.

在他兒時的回憶中，上世紀70年代的法國學校幾乎空無一人，這與現在形成對比，他認爲，這個不斷壯大的羣體正鼓勵更多人追隨他們的步伐。

Arnault Castel, who owns several stores selling brands including French fashion houses Carven and Kenzo, says he is “happily the victim of a stereotype.”

阿爾諾•卡斯特爾(Arnault Castel)擁有幾家門店，銷售包括法國時裝品牌Carven和Kenzo在內的品牌，他表示，他“很高興成爲了老一套模式的犧牲品。”

The former banker moved to Hong Kong in 1996 but was struck by the absence of European-style boutiques as opposed to the brash luxury malls that had sprung up across the city. “It was not really planned [but] it is really very easy to start a business here; the initial investment is quite low,” he says.

卡斯特爾之前是一位銀行人士，1996年移居香港，他注意到，儘管香港的豪華商廈拔地而起，但缺少歐洲風格的精品店。他表示：“實際上我沒有什麼計劃（但）在這裏創業確實非常容易，初始投資非常低。”

The chain, named Kapok, was founded in 2006 and targets Hong Kong’s young, affluent and style-conscious crowd. There are now thirteen stores across Singapore, Tokyo and Taipei with half of them in Hong Kong.

他經營的連鎖店名爲Kapok，創建於2006年，瞄準香港那些年輕富有且關注格調的人羣。如今，他在新加坡、東京和臺北等地開設了13家店面，其中有一半位於香港。

The designer clothing and quirky jewellery are especially popular with Japanese tourists and, increasingly, those from mainland China who come to Hong Kong to shop.

設計師服裝以及新奇古怪的珠寶特別受日本遊客的歡迎，而且越來越受到來香港掃貨的中國內地遊客的歡迎。

“We focus on really small, really emerging brands,” Mr Castel says. “People are looking for something a bit different.”

“我們關注的是非常小、非常新的品牌，”卡斯特爾表示，“人們在尋找一些有點不同的東西。”

For a new generation of Asian Francophiles seduced by the fantasy of la vie Française, that something different often means seeking a dash of French style. “The expatriate community is acting as an opinion leader,” Mr. Rendall says. “People from every walk of life come to Hong Kong, and we’ve reached cultural and critical mass.”

對於被法國生活吸引、憧憬法國的新一代亞洲人而言，與衆不同通常意味着尋求一抹法國風格。“這些在香港的外籍羣體正成爲輿論領袖，”倫德爾表示，“各行各業的人們來到香港，我們實現了文化的大融合。”