Hong Kong's property tycoons have vowed greater transparency after a survey they commissioned to discover what the public thinks of them came back with the answer: 'Not a lot.'
Nine out of 10 of the property-buying public had an average, negative or very negative impression of the much-maligned magnates, in the study ordered by the Hong Kong Real Estate Developers Association (REDA) more than a year ago.
A lack of openness and communication plus a perceived closeness to the government were the main criticisms cited by the respondents.
Now, after much soul-searching, REDA has pledged to 'be as transparent as we can be'.
Two surveys were commissioned in July last year. One was of 42 stakeholders including NGOs, industry associations and public bodies. The other focused on 568 members of the property-buying public. The studies were completed in November but a report of the results has only just been released on the internet.
REDA boasts a who's who of big money in Hong Kong as members, including the top four on Forbes' Hong Kong rich list - Cheung Kong's Li Ka-shing, Sun Hung Kai's Kwok brothers, Lee Shau-kee, of Henderson Land Development, and Cheng Yu-tung of New World Development.
The organisation's mandate is to protect and self-regulate the industry. But such has been the opaque nature of its operations, the 46-year-old association didn't even have a website until three months ago.
