SEO in Hong Kong

At the SES conference last week it was interesting to see the varying levels of SEO competence in Hong Kong. At the conference were companies from Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing and I must say the mainland speakers took the prize. SEO simply seems to have lagged behind in Hong Kong and it is still being sold using fear tactics and as some sort of exotic snake oil. IMHO, Hong Kong, once the lynchpin for a company wanting to work with China may lose a big opportunity to build a new competency as China develops its direct channels to market.