The Financial Secretary delivered his Budget last month as Hong Kong reached a critical point in its fight against the pandemic. The Chamber welcomes the Government’s measures to deal with the impact of Covid, particularly those that target citizens in need and SMEs. 

In his speech, the Financial Secretary proposed a four-pronged approach: fighting the pandemic, relieving the hardship of citizens and SMEs, supporting the economy, and planning for medium- and long-term economic development. We believe this is a sound strategy to help the city through the Covid crisis while laying the foundations for future prosperity.

For the many businesses in the city facing liquidity constraints, the additional financial relief measures will be a lifeline in the coming months. Reducing profits tax, together with waiving business registration fees, rates and utilities charges, as well as rental fee concessions, will ease some of their burden. 

Last year’s electronic consumption vouchers successfully boosted the local economy, so the decision to give out another round raised to HK$10,000 will be welcomed by retailers and citizens alike. 

Besides short-term pandemic-related measures, the Financial Secretary also laid out a wide range of longer-term plans. We are glad to see proposals to further develop the city’s bond market by issuing more green, RMB and Hong Kong bonds, together with increasing retail bonds. This will also expand our role as an international financial centre and as the financial hub of the Greater Bay Area.

We also welcome investments that will diversify the economy in key growth areas including IT, life sciences and R&D, as well as the development of a more robust intellectual property regime. These measures will also help attract more talent and strengthen our reputation globally.

Growing our talent pool is a crucial issue, and we welcome the Financial Secretary’s commitments including more funding for the Continuing Education Fund, improving healthcare teaching facilities of universities, and the addition of a number of professions to the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme. 

Given the severe suffering in the tourism sector, we are pleased to hear it will receive funding support for long-term development. However, the biggest hurdle remains the fact that our borders have been effectively closed for more than two years now. 

Reducing or removing travel restrictions is the only way that we will truly be able to return to normal. We appreciate that dealing with the current outbreak is the number one priority right now, but once the situation is under control – vaccination levels are already close to 90% – we hope that the Government will provide a road map for reopening our economy.

Peter Wong
chairman@chamber.org.hk