Hong Kong’s zero-Covid policy frustrates US businesses as they find it tough to deal with strict quarantine rules, attract talent

‘We’re at the point where it just feels like we’re talking to a wall,’ says AmCham Hong Kong president Tara Joseph

The number of US-based companies in Hong Kong has fallen for a third straight year this year to 1,267, down 6.2 per cent from 2018, government survey shows

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US businesses operating in Hong Kong are frustrated with the government’s zero-Covid approach. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 2:04pm, 8 Oct 2021Updated: 2:04pm, 8 Oct 2021

US businesses say lobbying Hong Kong’s government about reopening its borders with the rest of the world has been fruitless, a sign of frustration with the city’s zero-Covid strategy that could undermine the city’s future as a global financial hub.

Tara Joseph, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said her organisation has raised concerns to the city’s administration in multiple ways, without any response. Even though major companies are not packing up and leaving the city, businesses are having a difficult time with strict quarantine rules, including attracting talent and weighing relocating departments or operations, she said in an interview on Thursday.

“We’ve tried along with the other chambers, we’ve been open about these concerns in a variety of fashions and we haven’t heard back,” she said. “We’re at the point where it just feels like we’re talking to a wall. So we’ve stopped writing letters at this point.”

AmCham’s concerns are the latest sign of growing unease among foreign businesses about Hong Kong’s approach of eliminating Covid cases locally – a strategy that most countries aside from China have abandoned – while concentrating efforts on reopening the border with the mainland.

Tara Joseph, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. Photo: May Tse

Frederik Gollob, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg Television on Wednesday that European companies are discussing relocating staff from Hong Kong. The strict quarantine measures have led many businesses to consider restructuring at least part of their operations to places like Singapore, he said.