Consultant's study into Hongkong Post was abandoned

A study that the government commissioned from a "reputable international consultancy firm" in 2008 to identify possible shake-up measures for struggling Hongkong Post was never finished, the South China Morning Post has learned.

It comes a month after Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah announced in his budget speech that the administration would review the business operations of the 174-year-old department, which has suffered financial losses in the past three years.

The government postal service, which has been run as a trading fund since 1995, has been facing tough challenges from a declining demand for mail services in the digital age and competition from the private sector.

In 2008, Hongkong Post, with the Efficiency Unit, appointed the consultancy firm to research its market position in relation to the global postal sector.

In his annual report that year, then postmaster general Tam Wing-pong wrote that the study aimed to "identify our strengths and weaknesses and throw some light on what alternatives are available to HKP … to overcome its inherent limitations, meet the challenges, survive the competition, and sustain efficient and affordable services".

The study ran for about a year, yet no report has been published.