There will be a heavy demand on the service providers' resources in September providing assistance to employers with MPF exempt ORSO schemes. If the majority of the SMEs without existing schemes wait until November to sign up we believe the service providers would have insufficient resources to manage efficiently all the enrolment, communication and investment education that would be needed. The consequence would be a muddled, confused and possibly chaotic start to the MPF

We believe these concerns are well founded and, therefore, we urge employers -- for the benefit of themselves and their employees ?to sign up for MPF schemes as soon as they can.

Eleanor Ling
Chairman
Hong Kong Retirement Schemes Association

The advertising industry (including advertising online) is already heavily regulated in China, to the extent that some commentators consider that the machinery underlying the legislation is too cumbersome to be sustainable.

Certain adverts have to be submitted for approval prior to publication and other administrative provisions have also to be met.

It will be interesting to see whether sufficient resources, in terms of both time and money, will be set aside to enforce the new regulations. Given the ease with which an "advert" may be placed on the Internet, it is difficult to see how any enforcement will take place unless the regulatory machine itself is updated and made more efficient.

Marcus Bourget
Masons

I attended the first Toys Advisory Committee meeting and want to thank the Chamber for appointing me as the Chamber representative.

The WTO process will undoubtedly change many existing methods of investment and control of business in China. I'm sure many Hong Kong businesses would be very eager to know if they can continue with their sub-contracting work in China and whether, or how soon various restrictions will be relaxed.

Another important issue for Hong Kong, as the world's largest manufacturing base for toys, is that of getting everyone globally to adopt a common set of safety standards and code of conduct. Right now each trade bloc seems to insist on its own standard to impose on toy manufacturers, and they themselves are being pushed by various pressure groups to adopt certain standards. The Hong Kong Toy Council is working to resolve this problem by trying to get everyone to sit down and come to some kind of practical agreement. This is a very complex issue which will have the greatest impact on Hong Kong toy manufacturers. Therefore, Hong Kong must take the lead on this issue.

H Y Hung
Chamber Representative
Toys Advisory Committee

WTO accession and the development of western China will spark another investment rush in China, presenting the committee with new challenges. I hope that the committee will continue to enhance its services subject to new changes and make new contributions by helping investors effectively in the new investment boom. I also would like to suggest that the committee launch specific research projects on the impact of China's entry into WTO on its industries, and the investment environment of central and western China, to provide investors with specific information on investment.

Dr Liao Qun
Senior Economic Researcher,
Standard Chartered Bank

Mitch Lee
Networking Franchising (HK) Ltd.