Chamber bullish on business environment Confidence in Hong Kong's business environment among British Chamber of Commerce members is at a four-year high, a survey has found. The chamber's annual poll showed the overall satisfaction rate stands at 93 per cent this year, a six-point increase on last year. But members are less certain about the city's ability to sustain growth in the long term, with the level of optimism over the next five years rated at 82 per cent. Chamber chairman Alex Thursday said it was clear that Hong Kong was moving steadily out of the economic downturn of the past three years. Members were evenly divided over whether the debate on constitutional reform had affected the business environment, with 49 per cent saying it had and 48 per cent believing it had not. Party probes office rental by legislator The Democratic Party launched an internal investigation into legislator James To Kun-sun for allegedly renting an office for above market price and failing to declare shares in a company that owned the property. In a statement issued after the first meeting of a three-member investigating panel, the party said the panel would investigate the affair, make recommendations and come up with new guidelines for party members on renting properties with public money. Free BNO passports for the elderly Tens of thousands of British National (Overseas) passport holders aged 75 and over can now renew their passports free of charge. Those who have obtained their passports since May 19 this year can claim a refund. The British consulate-general estimates 30,000 British nationals in Hong Kong could be eligible for free passports under the scheme. To qualify, passport holders must have been born on or before September 2, 1929.
