Opinion | Time to stop arguing and get things done instead
As city gets bogged down with trivial matters two giants of commerce are looking elsewhere
Over the week, as the political temperature remains high following the chief executive's second summer town hall meeting, this time at Kwun Tong, one lower profile development should not go unnoticed.
On August 10, sprawling conglomerate China Resources Enterprise (CRE), the second-biggest supermarket operator on the mainland with its Vanguard chain, announced that it would set up a joint venture with British retail giant Tesco. CRE will hold an 80 per cent stake in the venture which will bolster CRE's position on the mainland.
It is revealing that, according to sources familiar with the deal and CRE's top management, CRE is aiming to boost its market share on the mainland yet has little interest in expanding its presence in Hong Kong by bidding for Li Ka-shing's ParknShop chain, which appears to be up for sale.
One source said: "Mr Li's decision is very much business sense, since the growth potential in the supermarket business in Hong Kong is limited. That's why CRE would rather focus on the mainland."
What does this say about Hong Kong's potential for overall economic growth? Both the city's richest individual and one of its biggest companies take the same view, and a dim one at that.
Two days after CRE's announcement, I visited someone who, coincidentally, works in the China Resources Building in Wan Chai. Frederic Ma Si-hang, former secretary for commerce and economic development, is a non-executive director of China Strategic Group, which shares the address with CRE, and he's someone I respect a great deal for his political and economic insights.