Hong Kong budget 2019 offers boost for businesses looking abroad for new markets amid US-China trade war
- Finance chief says recent changes in global environment have affected local businesses, particularly small and medium-sized ones
- So he will pump an extra HK$1 billion into a matching fund to help them boost their brands and upgrade products for export
Businesses in Hong Kong will get more money and access to extra overseas markets under a programme intended to boost their reach and counter the negative impact of the US-China trade war, the government announced in Wednesday’s budget.
Officials will pump HK$1 billion (US$127.4 million) into an existing matching fund – the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD fund) – to subsidise companies boosting their brands and upgrading their products for sale abroad.
This will take the fresh funding for the programme to HK$3.5 billion since last August, when the trade war worsened.
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah said the boost would sow the seeds of future growth.
“Hong Kong has to get prepared and cannot wait for sheer luck,” he said on Wednesday.
The plan, unveiled by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po at the Legislative Council, will cover 10 additional economies with which Hong Kong has free-trade deals, including Australia, New Zealand and Chile, bringing the total number of markets covered to 21.