The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC) welcomes the Financial Secretary’s new financial support package announced today to help businesses, especially SMEs, to ride out the imminent recession that is likely to strike Hong Kong.
The escalation of the trade war has brought higher anxiety and greater uncertainty. Added to this are the social tensions and conflicts in the city over the past few months, which have dampened consumer sentiment, business investment and the overall economy.
“Liquidity is currently a major concern for businesses,” said HKGCC Chairman Aron Harilela. “We are glad to hear that the Government will allow SMEs that have borrowed under both the HKMC’s SME Financing Guarantee Scheme and TID’s SME Loan Guarantee Scheme to repay the interest only, while the principal repayment can be delayed for a year. This will greatly help relieve the cash flow problems that many SMEs are facing.”
HKGCC CEO Shirley Yuen said, “The Chamber has previously shared with the Government our members’ concerns regarding the tedious and complicated application procedures of the various funding schemes. So we are very pleased to see the Government taking the initiative to relax the scope and enhance the application and reimbursement procedures of such schemes to make it easier for businesses to access the necessary funding at this challenging time.”
“This more proactive approach adopted by the Government to help businesses is very welcome. We are particularly encouraged that the Government is ready and prepared to put in more resources and introduce new measures to help tide businesses over during this worsening economic storm,” said Harilela.
Media inquiries: Please contact Mr Anthony Cheng at 2823 1250 / [email protected]