The chairman of Hong Kong's biggest banking group yesterday sought to boost confidence in the local economy, as HSBC announced flat results for the past year.
David Eldon called on the people of Hong Kong to stop dwelling on bad news and take initiatives to pull the economy out of its slump.
At the bank's annual results announcement, where it unveiled full-year operating profit up just 0.7 per cent at HK$35.82 billion, and net profit down 1.5 per cent to HK$25.86 billion, Mr Eldon said: 'I think it's time for Hong Kong to stop saying things are dreadful. Yes, things are bad, but it's up to the community working together with the government to think about the positives and to think about how we can create a future for ourselves.'
However, even though recent export figures leave some room for optimism, Hong Kong's economy this year will continue to be plagued by slow growth, Mr Eldon said. It is still too early to make predictions about a strong recovery, he said.
But Mr Eldon urged Hong Kong to focus on the positive.
'We should take what's said in the Budget [this week] and start moving ahead with it.'
