Hong Kong property heavyweight branches out as it pumps millions into face mask production
- New World Development to set up factory capable of producing 200,000 masks a day
- All of the masks will be given to local NGOs to distribute to city’s needy
Property developer New World Development is to invest millions of dollars in producing face masks in Hong Kong at the end of March, the Post can reveal.
As the city battles against the coronavirus epidemic, and deals with a shortage of protective gear, a source familiar with the project said the company would install two production lines capable of churning out 200,000 masks a day, in a 4,000 sq ft factory in Tuen Mun.
The developer will be one of several new local producers, alongside Ricky Wong Wai-kay’s online shopping platform HKTV mall, Mask Factory, and the Federation of Trade Unions (FTU).
While Wong and the FTU are starting from scratch, Mask Factory started trial operations on February 14 for a daily capacity of about 70,000 masks.
The Post has learned that New World’s masks will go to students and the needy via non-governmental organisations.
After the epidemic dies down, the masks would be mostly kept for its staff, with about 50,000 employees working in construction, on franchised buses and ferries, in hotels, medical services, and homes for the elderly, the source said.
Some of the protective gear would be sold at cost to non-governmental organisations for the needy.
In a reply to the Post, New World confirmed its intention to set up the production lines “to address the pressing need”, and said more details would be released in due course.
Adrian Cheng Chi-kong, the company’s executive vice-chairman and general manager, recently set up a HK$10 million charitable fund in Hong Kong and donated 40 million yuan (HK$44.3 million) to mainland Chinese efforts to combat the outbreak.
So far, nearly 79,000 people have been infected worldwide with the virus, which causes the disease Covid-19, and almost 2,500 people have died. In Hong Kong, two people with underlying health issues have died after being infected, and there have been 72 confirmed cases.
Over the past few weeks, the demand for masks has been such that tens of thousands of people have queued overnight in chilly weather for free masks, while 1.5 million people registered to buy them online from AS Watson pharmacies.
To motivate local production of masks, lawmakers approved a HK$1.5 billion government subsidy for qualified producers as part of the HK$30 billion epidemic relief measures, but the source said the developer was unlikely to tap the funding.
The source added that New World was combing internal resources, such as factory space, storage, and technological know-how to prepare a clean room to avoid contamination, while sourcing machinery from Taiwan.
Last Friday, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau Tang-wah revealed that the Hong Kong Productivity Council had talked to 381 individuals interested in producing masks in Hong Kong, but none had the right manufacturing capabilities.
Separately, another New World arm, New World Construction, along with developer Chun Wo Construction Holdings and the Hong Kong Construction Association, will donate a total of 550,000 surgical masks to the industry’s workers, via contractors.
Stephen Lee Ka-lun, Chun Wo CEO, said the company had helped the government expand mask production in its prison factories, where inmates have been working around the clock with volunteers from the disciplinary forces to boost mask supply. It was said that monthly production could rise to 2.5 million during the epidemic.
“We have assisted the government to create part of the clean room [which is used to avoid contamination] in the Correctional Services Department so it can start operating, while we are still working hard to finish another part of the clean room,” Lee said, adding that there were no plans for the developer itself to produce masks.
