This has been a tough year for everyone, but I think we can be proud of how Hong Kong’s business community and Chamber members in particular have come together to support each other and our communities. 

When I became Chamber Chairman in May, Hong Kong had come through a wave of Covid-19 with relatively few infections. My first concern was helping Hong Kong businesses to deal with the impact, and the Chamber swung into action quickly to survey our members on the sort of help that would be most effective. 

Your responses enabled us to reflect the business community’s key concerns to the Government, and we were pleased to see a number of our suggestions were taken on board. In particular, the Employment Support Scheme has been a lifeline for many businesses amid the social-distancing measures. 

Although the coronavirus situation remains very fluid, the latest economic figures suggest the city is managing to cope with its impact. In the third quarter, Hong Kong’s economy shrank by 3.5% – an improvement on the first two quarters, which saw drops of around 9%. We are cautiously optimistic that this trend will continue into the new year, especially if a Covid vaccine becomes widely available in the not-too-distant future.

Unfortunately, the new wave of infections in Hong Kong in November has put the planned travel bubble with Singapore on hold. While the health of our citizens is our first priority, this is a blow for the retail and tourism businesses that have been devastated by the travel restrictions. We can only hope that the quick response of the Government and citizens will once again slow the infection rate and enable the launch of this groundbreaking scheme.

There has been some positive news to report recently. Mainland China has already returned to economic growth, which is especially welcome for our many members who do business across the border. And we are all relieved to hear that a number of vaccines have completed successful trials – an effective vaccine is the key that will enable a true return to normality.

Looking ahead, I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to all of our members for your support throughout this particularly difficult year. This support and cooperation among members of the Hong Kong business community will be essential as we can help one another adjust to the post-pandemic environment. By working together, we can share knowledge and resources, and ensure that the Government hears our concerns. 

In these very unusual times, I have not had the opportunity to meet with fellow members at Chamber events. But I hope this will change before too long, and I look forward to seeing many of you in person as we embark on the road to recovery in 2021.

Peter Wong
chairman@chamber.org.hk