Transition from tribulation to triumph
Updated: 2009-10-14 07:40
By Cheng Waiman(HK Edition)
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HONG KONG: As a business city, what does Hong Kong expect when we look ahead to the Chief Executive Donald Tsang's Policy Address today, especially when the market is divided as to whether we are witnessing a V-shaped or W-shaped recovery, or indeed no recovery at all?
As the recent protests and petitions to the Central Government Offices demonstrated, there is no shortage of noise on what people want from our government. Employment is a major issue. The Liberal Party has warned that if the minimum wage is set at HK$32, it would lead to as many as 170,000 people losing their jobs - a conclusion that the labor sector has rejected. The business community has also spoken. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce has urged the government to cut profits taxation to 15 percent to improve the SAR's competitiveness. The Chamber, which represents large and small companies that together employ over half of the city's working population, said the current global economy is "still subject to uncertainties," and that therefore, "urgent and effective action is needed to help SMEs weather the financial storm."
The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, meanwhile, said the government should further deepen ties with the mainland.
This week, a survey from the University of Hong Kong has found that "labor and employment" top the importance list of the local community with 92 percent of the population expressing their concern, closely followed by "economic development" at 89 percent. In comparison with the same survey last year, people have now become more concerned with labor and employment issues and less with the economy.
In today's Policy Address, Donald Tsang will lend a hand to those who he believes most need and deserve support.
When Tsang delivered his Policy Address this time last year, he was facing a world suffering from one of the worst financial crisis in recent history. Lehman Brothers, a pillar of Wall Street, had just collapsed. What did Tsang do then? In addition to a wide ranging series of measures that supported businesses and the community at large, he set up a task force to deal with the crisis- the Task Force on Economic Challenges, which came up with recommendations for the government to support six priority industries - innovation and technology, cultural and creative industries, environmental industries, education services, medical services, as well as testing and certification.
Unconfirmed reports of some of this year's new initiatives suggest things are certainly moving in the right direction. If true, tax relief for innovative technology would be a welcome move and would narrow Hong Kong's handicap in comparison with competitor cities like Singapore. As the city' largest landlord and the regulator for land use, the government has a lot of flexibility to give Hong Kong a boost in this area. For example, the Central Market, located at the heart of the central business district, has been taken off the land application list and is rumored to be earmarked for creative industries.
These are new windows of opportunity that experts have recommended, and they are important areas to develop in conjunction with the SAR' four traditional economic powerhouses- finance, tourism, logistics, and economic services, especially since these sectors, currently providing limited growth and hence limited employment opportunities. require revitalization.
While different stakeholders will always have different agendas, it is likely that most people believe they need a secure and stable environment within which they can exercise their entrepreneurial spirits.
Hong Kong' business success has always been founded by providing the best environment for business, and today is no exception. As bankers and economist continue to debate whether the recovery is sustainable, the fact that Europe' biggest bank, HSBC, has decided to relocate its CEO from London to Hong Kong speaks volumes about the city's value.
(HK Edition 10/14/2009 page4)