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SCMP Reporter

THE MUCH-BALLYHOOED 'Go-West' trip, which today sees a bunch of the SAR's richest men and women head off to invest in China's poor hinterland, has struck a sour note in some quarters.

Small operators in the business sector complained they had been discriminated against by the Government for being excluded from the trip.

The 282-strong delegation, made up of Hong Kong's business kingpins and led by the new Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, will make a 10-day tour to support Beijing's grandiose campaign for economic development in the western region.

The tycoon-studded delegation is the biggest and most high profile of its kind ever led by the Hong Kong Government.

The expedition, however, drew harsh criticism from Simon Shi Kai-biu, president of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprise Association. He said the exclusion of small-business operators demonstrated the Government's discriminatory policy against them.

'It is a game tailored for the rich. We were not even asked if we were interested in it. We small and medium businesses also need investment opportunities on the mainland. We should not be excluded.'

Political analyst Professor Lau Siu-kai, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, said it would be naive to think it was purely a business trip.

'It is certainly not pure business. It is political posturing. Beijing wants you to come to invest, and you fly there to show your support. It is to give face to Beijing, and it is about politics,' said Professor Lau.

Outspoken pro-democracy legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing, of The Frontier, agreed. She said the exclusion of small-business operators had reinforced people's impressions that it was a game for the rich.

'The political signal is clear. You are on the list, and you are blessed by Beijing and you can invest in the west. If not, sorry, you have to do more to please Beijing,' said Ms Lau.

Her Frontier colleague, Cyd Ho Sau-lan, also accused the Government of excluding small businessmen.

The 'Go-West' campaign, launched by Premier Zhu Rongji in early 1999, aims to initiate public projects in poor inland provinces, covering an area as extensive as the whole of western Europe.

But Professor Lau doubted Hong Kong businessmen could contribute much to such a mega-scale development, given their limited experience and expertise.

His views were shared by Linda Li Chelan, associate professor at City University of Hong Kong's department of public and social administration. She said the Government's high-profile approach this time had politicised the trip.

'The tour has strong political connotations. We seldom see the Chief Secretary lead such a big delegation. After all, you don't expect the tycoons to sign piles of contracts in a 10-day visit. It is more about building guanxi  [relations] with cadres.

'Go-west is a political campaign in China. And the SAR's high-profile promotion can easily give people the impression it wants to please Beijing and thus rushes our tycoons there to invest.'

Political analyst Li Pang-kwong, an associate professor at Lingnan University's department of politics and sociology, said: 'It is about politics. Beijing is eager to see quick results in economic improvements in the western region. It needs big investment, and small and medium firms cannot help much in this respect.'

Professor Lau said the central Government had previously tried to encourage Hong Kong tycoons to help develop the west.

'But the response has been lukewarm. That helps explain why the Government this time takes such a high-profile approach. In that sense, it will be more politically correct to include small and medium enterprises in the delegation. It can show that the whole of Hong Kong, not only the big businessmen, are in support of the development of the western region.'

The SAR Government did not respond to inquiries about why only tycoons could join the delegation or the criteria for selecting delegates. But the Chief Secretary's Office denied claims it was a 'game of giving face'.

In a gathering with participating tycoons last Tuesday, Mr Tsang said the visit was aimed at 'opening the door' for local businessmen to invest in western China which, in return, would benefit the people of Hong Kong. Mr Tsang also said it would be an orientation trip, from which no instant results should be expected.

'Certainly, the big people have a lot more money to dump in the west than we have,' Mr Shi said. 'But we small businesses can also provide supporting services there. They build hotels and shopping malls, and we can look for business opportunities of, say, installing light bulbs in the hotels or malls. That makes good profits for us.'

Mr Shi has plans to lead a delegation from his association to some western provinces in July, without government support.

According to the Government, there are about 290,000 small and medium enterprises in Hong Kong, employing 1.4 million workers. Mr Shi said they were a sector too influential to the local economy to be ignored.

In last October's Policy Address, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa described the small- and medium-enterprise sector as the 'pillar of Hong Kong's economy'.

Some small and medium enterprises have been attacked as wanting a 'free lunch' by asking the Government for preferential loan terms and policies to help them survive the economic slump.

Among the delegates on the trip to the west is the chairman of the government-appointed Small and Medium Enterprise Committee, Chan Wing-kee, also the managing director of Yangtzekiang Garment Manufacturing.

'Mr Chan is a big businessman. He heads the Chinese Manufacturers' Association. He was appointed to the government committee because he is a VIP. He does not know the difficulties of small and medium firms,' Mr Shi complained. Mr Chan is also a delegate to the National People's Congress.

The hinterland accounts for nearly 60 per cent of China's land mass but only a quarter of its population and one seventh of its economic output.

The delegates first stop is in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province, and they then fly to Beijing, where delegates are expected to meet state leaders including President Jiang Zemin before heading to Chengdu in Sichuan province. Urumqi in Xinjiang will be the last stop, and the delegation is expected to return on May 29.

Most of the tycoons are expected to return after the stopover in Beijing, leaving behind their representatives to finish the remaining itinerary.

Several legislators representing their own business interests also form part of the delegation. The trip is estimated to be costing taxpayers $5 million, although all delegates and accompanying members of the media would pay their own bills.

Ng Kang-chung is a staff writer for the Post's Editorial Pages (kcpost@scmp.com)



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