Most of Hong Kong's business and opinion leaders believe a competition law would improve the city's business environment, and that consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises would be major beneficiaries, a survey has shown.
But the SCMP/TNS study showed that nearly 40 per cent of respondents were very concerned that the introduction of such a law would result in higher costs and more lawsuits.
The survey, conducted last month, found that 70 per cent of the 1,000 respondents expected consumers to benefit from the proposed competition law, while another 55 per cent said small and medium-sized businesses would be major beneficiaries.
Half of the respondents believed that large companies would be harmed by the proposed legislation.
The same proportion of respondents said Hong Kong's reputation had suffered from not having a competition law, compared with 35 per cent who disagreed.
Sixty-four per cent said the city's business environment would improve after implementation of a competition law, compared with 20 per cent who believed the situation would remain the same, and 6 per cent who expected a deterioration.
