Last month, Hong Kong businesses finally received good news when Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced a three-phase plan to reopen the city by relaxing the measures taken to contain Covid.
In our many discussions and submissions with the Government we repeatedly emphasized that businesses are hanging by a thread, and not only need assistance to overcome the immediate challenges, they also need a roadmap of Hong Kong’s plans to get back to business so they can plan for the future.
Starting 21 April, the relaxation of some social-distancing measures, including the reopening of gyms and beauty salons, and extending dining opening hours, are to be welcomed. However, the pain for many other local businesses – such as bars and karaoke parlours – will continue as they wait for the second phase of the reopening.
The lifting of the ban on flights from nine countries including Australia, Canada, the United States and Britain, and the reduction of mandatory hotel quarantine from two weeks to one, will make it much easier for Hong Kong residents to return to the city.
But we would like to see a much broader opening up, as well as more information about the plans for resumption of cross-border travel, given the huge importance of the Mainland market to local businesses.
Earlier in March, the Chief Executive had said that she had a “very good feeling” that financial institutions were losing patience with Hong Kong’s continuing isolation. But it was not just the financial services industry that was becoming frustrated: businesses across all sectors were suffering from the flight bans and severe quarantine requirements that effectively cut Hong Kong – Asia’s World City – off from the rest of the world. The Chamber’s recent study on labour shortages highlighted the need for business people to be able to travel, and the role of the restrictions in triggering an exodus of talent not seen since the early 1990s.
The fifth wave of infections has been devastating for the city, and the business community understands the need for measures to contain the spread of the virus. But we hope that the timetable can be adjusted to enable more rapid reopening if the current outbreak continues to ease, as has proven to be the case around the world.
In other good news for local businesses, the Government agreed with the Chamber’s call to roll out a third tranche of the Employment Support Scheme to help businesses and their employees. The measures are expected to benefit up to 1.3 million employees earning less than HK$30,000 by providing a wage subsidy of up to HK$8,000 a month for each worker between May and July.
In addition, another batch of electronic consumption vouchers will be distributed this month, which we hope will boost consumer spending and benefit local retailers and restaurants. With social-distancing measures set to ease at around the same time, we look forward to much busier streets by the end of April, paving the way for a return to normal.
Peter Wong
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