While Hong Kong is on the road of recovery from the fifth wave of the COVID outbreak, there are “concerns” in the international community about the “brain-drain problem” of Hong Kong. Nevertheless, I am confident of the city’s ability to regain its glamour as an international hub of global investment and talents because we have a strong motherland as the backup and close access to the vast market of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
International businesses, chambers and diplomats in Hong Kong have recently voiced the capital-and talent-leaving “concerns” to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government via different channels, saying that more and more multinational companies, expatriates and talents have relocated or are planning to leave the city soon because of the SAR’s stringent COVID-19 travel and quarantine restrictions.
A recent survey released by the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, for one, paints a gloomy picture of Hong Kong’s business future. The survey based on 260 responding companies reveals that nearly half of the European companies that responded are planning to completely or partially relocate operations out of Hong Kong within the next 12 months, citing the “harsh” COVID-19 curbs.
Hong Kong’s active participation and seamless integration in the Greater Bay Area will not only enhance the role and functions of the Greater Bay Area in the country’s two-way opening up, but will also bring the city’s development to a new horizon with tremendous business opportunities
We should take note that the EuroCham’s survey was conducted between Jan 18 and Feb 5, when Hong Kong had not yet relaxed its border restrictions and some of its social-distancing measures because of the severity of the outbreak. However, as the pandemic situation has improved gradually since the middle of March, the government announced earlier some measures to facilitate cross-border travel, which is essential to maintaining international business. Such measures include lifting flight bans, increasing the number of quarantine hotels, and shortening the quarantine period for overseas passengers.
I have reasons to be optimistic about Hong Kong’s financial future. The special privilege granted to Hong Kong under “one country, two systems” and our proximity to the Greater Bay Area are the advantages many countries and regions watch with envy. So, as long as the SAR’s fundamentals remain strong, we can regain our magnetic attraction for international capital and talents once the current outbreak is over.
First of all, the SAR government, after learning a painful lesson in the fifth wave of the outbreak, has adjusted its pandemic control measures recently by conforming our anti-pandemic strategies more and more with the advice given by the mainland medical experts. Now that the COVID-19 prevention efforts have been steered back on the right track, there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.
In fact, the shift of anti-pandemic priorities to reducing cases of new infections, severe complications and mortality has begun to bear fruit, with the number of infection cases and the daily death toll falling steadily in the past weeks, signifying a slow recovery from the pandemic.
The recent arrival of a team of mainland traditional Chinese medicine experts and practitioners to treat COVID-19 patients shall further improve the situation as TCM has been proved effective in preventing critical illnesses and death as well as helping patients recover quicker.
With the help of the Chinese mainland, more and more disease prevention and isolation facilities have been completed. Together with the additional top-notch medical experts and medical workers dispatched here to help, Hong Kong’s capacity and capability in treating COVID-19 patients have been enhanced tremendously.
A smooth, consistent and sufficient supply of food, daily necessities and medical material is a must for a community under the attack of a pandemic. The mainland’s timely supply of the needy material to Hong Kong has, to a very large extent, calmed the sentiments of local residents. Though there were occasional panic-buying sprees incited by rumors, Hong Kong society has generally remained calm during this difficult period of time.
With more and more public services resuming, the upcoming relaxation of social-distancing measures and hopefully the resumption of quarantine-free cross-boundary travel between the mainland and the HKSAR to be implemented soon, the city is going step by step back to normal.
On the other hand, Hong Kong has an edge as being part of the Greater Bay Area, which makes up about 56,000 square kilometers with a total population of over 86 million and a GDP of about $1.67 trillion in 2020.
The development of the Greater Bay Area plays an important role in China’s strategic planning blueprint, showing its commitment to reform and opening-up to the world. Hong Kong, as the most open and international city offering global financial, transportation, trade and aviation services among the nine cities and two SARs in the area, is certainly a key player.
Enjoying the dual advantages of “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong’s active participation and seamless integration in the Greater Bay Area will not only enhance the role and functions of the Greater Bay Area in the country’s two-way opening up, but will also bring the city’s development to a new horizon with tremendous business opportunities available to local and international companies, especially the new generations in the years to come.
And let me also cite another recent survey which gives a polarized view on Hong Kong as compared with that of the EuroCham’s survey.
The Global Financial Centres Index, published by the UK consultancy Z/Yen and the China Development Institute from Shenzhen, reaffirms Hong Kong’s third-place ranking as a global financial center after New York and London. The rankings are based on a global online survey of nearly 12,000 financial professionals who evaluated more than 100 cities on 150 factors in five broad areas of competitiveness, including business environment, human capital and reputation.
The data collected was based on responses up until the end of 2021, so it does not include reaction after the omicron outbreak struck Hong Kong. However, it does indicate clearly that as long as Hong Kong’s fundamentals remain strong and life is normal here, the city will still be an ideal place for entrepreneurs, investors and talents from around the world to do business and work here.
Most importantly, Hong Kong is a convenient gateway to the vast market of the Chinese mainland, which global investors and talents never want to miss.
The author is a member of the Hong Kong Association of Media Veterans and a freelance writer.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.