Policy Statement & Submission

A proposed three-phased plan from the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce

Introduction

There is a need for a long-term campaign to revive Hong Kong after the SARS crisis which would involve action by both the government and the community. This paper lays out a proposed three-phased plan to re-build Hong Kong in order for both local people and the global community to regain confidence in Hong Kong. Through this campaign we also seek to reinforce Hong Kong's leading position as Asia's World City, by facilitating the ongoing cultural, institutional and structural changes that continue to shape the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as a key city of China and the world with first-class quality of life.

The campaign will be divided into three phases that we shall describe as "Five weeks, Five months, and Five years," corresponding to the immediate, short-term and long-term horizons. The time-span we use is underpinned by the following assumptions:

(I) In five week's time:

- The WHO will lift its travel advisory against Hong Kong because of the continuing drop in infection cases in Hong Kong down to low single digits per day.

- SARS infection in China will begin to stabilize, and the situation will be somewhat in control, both in the Mainland and worldwide.

(II) In five months time:

- SARS infection in Hong Kong is down to zero per day almost always, with a possible occasional few cases in the fall.

- The SARS outbreak is contained both in China and worldwide.

- Improved knowledge about SARS gradually gives the world more comfort about handling this disease, as fear of the unknown turns gradually towards acceptance.

(III) In five years time:

- SARS vaccine is developed, and so is a cure. But, . . .

- There is better awareness in Hong Kong of the importance of public health and the threat of new and recurring infectious diseases.

While the emphasis of each phase will be different, there will be a consistent message to the local community that this is a serious long-term campaign to revive Hong Kong which has key roles for the government (G), business (B), and community (C). In each phase, we will identify who would have a role for which action. The phases are:

- Phase I--Immediate (5 weeks): Re-invigorate
- Phase II--Short-term (5 months): Re-launch
- Phase III--Long-term (5 years): Re-build

We wish to stress that Phase I, the confidence building phase, must take place before Phase II. Otherwise, the conditions will not be ripe for the activities in Phase II. With respect to the community outside Hong Kong, there will be different programs within each phase to attract different groups of people to have confidence in living, working, visiting, and playing in Hong Kong, including:

- Tourists and business people from the Mainland
- Business travelers from around the world
- Tourists from around the world
- Long-term settlers from abroad, i.e. expatriates and their families

Phase I--Five Weeks: RE-INVIGORATION --Key message: "We are confident!"

For the immediate five-week phase one, the key is to reinforce to the community that Hong Kong can cope, and to build up the consensus that "together we can bounce back". This is a necessary pre-requisite for the substantive re-launch activities to come later. A two-pronged emphasis on hygiene and confidence will need to be maintained.

Phase I Objectives

- To build up local confidence in Hong Kong: One aspect of this phase will be primarily directed at the local community, to build up our own confidence in Hong Kong. Hygiene and confidence should go hand in hand.

- To build up international confidence in Hong Kong: The other aspect is full force engagement with outside counterparts and contacts, telling them we are confident in Hong Kong and they should be too. This could involve at least the business community but actually the entire community.

- To plan for capitalizing on the milestone of the lifting of WHO alert: There should be a planning and build-up of activities to coincide with the lifting of the WHO's travel advisory against Hong Kong.

- To start planning for the longer term: Work must also begin in planning for the longer term, both to sustain the community effort and to attract visitors back to Hong Kong.

Phase I Implementation

Timeframe: Phase I immediate:

1. Activating the campaign. The government has convened the Re-launch Committee under the Financial Secretary. A core group within Operation Unite (OU) and a task force within the International Business Community (IBC) have been formed for the same purpose. (HKGCC is a participant in all three.) There may be other community groups formed to do the same, so there should be an awareness of coordination and cooperation. [Action: G, B, C]

2. Strategy Formulation. The government should hire an internationally known public relations consultant firm experienced in crisis management immediately to advise the government and Hong Kong on how to communicate itself to the world, starting with an assessment of how the international community now views Hong Kong. Plunging into Phase II right away without such expert advice can be disastrous for Hong Kong. The initial assessment should be done by the end of Phase I. [Action: G] (Note: This is of such immediate importance that if there is delay in getting this done, Operation Unite is willing to fund a PR firm now to do at least the assessment work mentioned above.)

3. Hygiene Charter. Launch of the OU Hygiene Charter in the community. [Action: B, C]

4. Community communication. A communication program, e.g. through speeches, articles in the media, advertisements, publications to boost local confidence. Encourage local citizens to consume and enjoy the advantages that Hong Kong offers. [Action: G, B, C]

5. International communication--Part one. The government must send out official communication worldwide on our bounce back. The Chamber, TDC, and other business associations, especially IBC, together with international chambers and Consulates, to continue disseminating positive information about Hong Kong and SARS to their overseas counterparts. OU can organize a "One person, One email" campaign to ask each Hong Kong resident to email one friend or contact around the world telling them about Hong Kong. [Action: G, B, C]

6. Coordinated fund-raising. Another way to boost community confidence is to ensure that the outpouring of various charity donations find their way to the right recipients in a timely fashion. There is a need for a non-profit charity organization to coordinate this donation.
[Action: G, C]

7. Planning ahead. Start looking at ways to capitalize on the milestone of WHO lifting the travel advisory. [Action: G, B]

Timeframe: Phase I later:

8. Planning for the next phase. Start looking at suggestions for programs and events that can be done in Phase II, tailoring to coordination with the consultant report as to needs and timing. [Action: G, B]

9. Mask-education. The confidence of local citizens should result gradually in the lessening of masks on the streets, a key symbolism of re-invigoration. However, education of citizens that masks are for those not well, rather than for those who are well, should be pursued. This encourages social responsibility. [Action: G, B, C]

10. Culmination of Phase I. A community campaign to coincide with a big-splash re-launch activity by the government at the lifting of WHO travel advisory. [Action: G, B, C] Some possibilities are:

a . OU organizing a large citywide mask-less rally to signify the re-invigoration theme.
b. An extension of the tourism sector's "We love HK" spending campaign.

Phase II--Five Months: RE-LAUNCH --Key message: "We are back!"

Assuming that the end of Phase I more or less coincides with the lifting of the WHO non-essential travel alert, Phase II will build on the momentum of the first five weeks—thus signaling the serious launching of the come-back campaign.

Phase II Objectives

- To sustain confidence: To sustain and build upon the confidence of the local people, so as to bring back the international community.

- To demonstrate that Hong Kong is a clean place: This will be done with a series of programs and activities. With that, the focus of the campaign should gradually shift away from hygiene to confidence-building.

- To engage in a major offensive in promoting Hong Kong: The business travelers should be a special target group initially. Mainland and regional tourists and business travelers will be a second target group, assuming that the SARS situation begins to be under control in China. Long-haul tourists may be a tougher group to bring back in large numbers initially.

Phase II Implementation

1. Hygiene. There should be many self-initiated hygiene programs in the districts, facilitated by suitable government or municipal measures (e.g. health inspectors under each District Council.) Enforcement should be strict, with zero tolerance in littering, waste treatment, disposal, etc. There should be a consensus during this phase of refining regulatory measures such as changing the building code. [Action: G, B, C]

2. International communication--Part two. Full implementation of the PR consultants' recommendations, especially with business travelers as the target (e.g. organizing business delegation "twin visits" with other cities). This should be implemented in conjunction with the Chambers of Commerce, Invest Hong Kong and TDC. This will include organizing major international business conferences in Hong Kong or participating in major conferences elsewhere to tell the story about Hong Kong. [Action: G, B]

3. International communication--Part three. This will require quiet work business sector by business sector, working to persuade companies and families that Hong Kong is a "safe" place to work and live, and that our natural economic positioning and pillars of the economy still make this an attractive business center. Invest Hong Kong ambassadors should span the globe issuing this same message, as well as Chambers and specialist associations working with multinational companies in their membership. [Action: G, B]

4. Tourism promotion--Part one. OU will supplement the needs of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, which will necessarily lead this effort. A coherent tourism promotion framework should be gradually put in place, with the realization that the majority of tourists are going to wait some time before coming back. Hence we should not use up all our resources in Phase II on tourism promotion. [Action: G, B, C] Some major actions will include:

a. Some, but not all, of the big tourism projects will materialize during this phase, e.g. a suitable "song and dance" event, some major conferences, more Distinguished Speaker Luncheons. This is aimed at the regional and long-haul tourists.

b. A promotional campaign targeted towards Mainland visitors, who are likely to be the first to return to Hong Kong en masse.

c. Start a soft-sell ad campaign globally to tell the story about Hong Kong.

5. Public health strategy. The formulation of a long-term public health strategy should begin during this phase, possibly with the help of other expert consultants in public health and disaster management. This will include the establishing of a terms of reference for a Hong Kong Center for Disease Control. [Action: G]

6. Social stability. In terms of relief to those affected, the three-month contingency period would have been over. Recognizing that the adverse economic effects may take some time to be overcome, additional relief measures will have to be devised during this phase by the government. [Action: G, B]

7. Culmination: sustainable strategy. While individual campaigns go on, a long-term strategy will have to be devised and promoted (e.g. via the policy address) [Action: G, B]

Phase III--Five years: RE-BUILD--Key message: "We are quality!"

In this phase, while laying the ground-work for a sustained effort to improve our quality of life, the opportunity should also be taken to confront the longer-term, structural issues with a view to strengthening Hong Kong's ability to deal with any potential public health hazards. All the ideas will be further developed as time goes on, but planning should begin now.

Phase III Objectives

- To take steps to ensure Hong Kong is safe: To show that Hong Kong is a world class city with the ability to respond to any major public health hazard with quality health care and crisis management.

- To take steps to ensure Hong Kong has quality: To demonstrate to and convince the international community that Hong Kong is a world class city with a first-class quality of life.

Phase III Implementation

1. Hygiene and health. The sustained community campaign will have fostered a more mature community with respect to attitude towards hygiene. With greater readiness by the public, the government could continue tougher punitive regulation against non-conforming citizens. Public education on hygiene and public health that goes to the heart of culture and society must be introduced early in schools and continued. It should also have developed a mechanism of public health coordination with Guangdong province and the rest of China. [Action: G, C]

2. Tourism promotion--Part two. A sustained Hong Kong Tourism Board campaign, with the support of all Hong Kong citizens, to lure all the tourists back. [Action: G, B, C] This should include the following elements:

a. More of the "song and dance" events

b. A joint, or at least coordinated, promotional message with China and Asia

c. Intensive campaigns to target different tourists, e.g. Asian or long-haul travelers.

3. International communications--Part four. Continuation of the communications offensive towards the international community, including expatriate families, with an emphasis on quality of life as Hong Kong's strengths. This may include targeted talks to family groups, corporations, with an emphasis not just on business opportunities, but on health management and environment and quality of life here in Hong Kong. [Action: G, B]

4. A new health care. Some structural changes will have to be seriously pursued. [Action: G]

a. The government and the Hospital Authority should institute significant suitable structural reform in healthcare sector to strengthen its effectiveness.

b. There should be a major reform in health care and health insurance.

c. The Hong Kong Center for Disease Control should be established. Personnel should be tapped from the two universities, from the local medical profession, and from the best in public health management in the world. It should not just be a research organization but should be fully equipped to undertake the functions of intelligence, alert, enforcement, critical response and public health crisis management. Research work should be in collaboration with the world so that there will be little duplication.

5. Sustainable living and environmental protection. Some ideas in the planning for lower density and better quality of life should become actionable during this phase, especially as it affects building codes, road planning, harbor filling etc. We should finally pay serious attention to environment issues in Hong Kong, using the Sustainable Development Council to start reversing the destructive way we populate Hong Kong. [Action: G, B, C]

6. Financing. Investment in healthcare reform and infrastructure for sustainable development could be expensive but it should not be curtailed by the Budget deficit. The government should begin to examine options such as issuing bonds or cooperating with the private sector through a "purchase guarantee model". [Action: G, B]

7. PRD integration. The campaign to integrate with the PRD should be re-launched in a more positive light, paying special attention to problems that emanate from integration—not just fear of losing jobs or property devaluation, but also disease communications through better mobility across the border. [Action: G, B]

Conclusion—

In this three-phase plan to re-invigorate, re-launch, and re-build Hong Kong, we must recognize the following principles:

--Timing is crucial. We must re-invigorate before we re-launch. Too early a re-launch without the confidence foundation of Phase I means an effectual Phase II, and the "bullet is wasted" -- since you only get one shot at a re-launch. We must do Phase I correctly, starting today. However, doing the re-launch too late will make us miss the critical window to attract the world's attention in a positive way--and WHO lifting the travel advisory is an attractive milestone to take advantage of.

--Feasible Action. Whatever we do, we must keep in mind developments inside China, around the world, and the state of knowledge about SARS. Hong Kong getting ahead alone is impossible if there is still uncontrolled spread elsewhere and a worldwide fear and paranoia about the disease.

--Everyone has a role. Even though the government has set up a "re-launch the economy" committee and started a "cleaning campaign", every person in Hong Kong plays a part.

--Ready for a marathon. Whether it be cleaning up the city, or adjusting our lifestyle, or telling about the attractiveness of Hong Kong, this effort must be sustained and we cannot be forgetful of the current crisis. We cannot let the tradition of short attention span of the media and of Hong Kong citizens to cause us to confront a similar crisis again in a few years without being prepared.