Tariff war ‘not the end of the world’ for Hong Kong companies: trade council chief

The US-China tariff war is “not the end of the world” for Hong Kong businesses, the new head of the city’s Trade Development Council has said, as he outlined strategies to help them capitalise on geopolitical uncertainties. Chairman Frederick Ma Si-hang, who took office on June 1, also said on Monday the council would explore setting up more offices in new markets and rebranding the Asian Financial Forum to include more industry elements. The council has 51 offices around the world, including three in the United States and 13 in mainland China. “We need to reposition our global presence based on the latest geopolitical situation and the need to explore business opportunities in new markets,” Ma, a former commerce chief, said. “Our global network will be put under review, some new offices might be opened and some existing ones might get more resources … for example, we might consider Peru after a free-trade agreement was signed recently.” Ma said the tariff war had brought uncertainties to businesses and impacted investors’ confidence, but he remained optimistic. “As long as the incumbent US president is in office, the uncertainties will be here to stay … but I’m optimistic because he for sure respects Chinese President Xi Jinping, and I hope Xi can influence his thoughts, not only about China but also about the whole world through conversations,” he said. Ma also expressed confidence that Hong Kong would turn crisis into opportunity by playing to its unique advantages. “Hong Kong businesses are unhappy about the uncertainties, but they have seen many storms. I don’t think they will see this as the end of the world,” he said. “We are definitely in a unique position to capitalise on what is going on around the world. Everybody is facing uncertainty, but no city is capable of doing what Hong Kong can do for many of the businesses.” Ma touted the city’s role as a free-trade port, an international financial centre and a “superconnector” bridging the mainland and international markets – all of which would keep the city in a “good position” in the global race to secure business from emerging markets such as Latin America and Africa. Margaret Fong Shun-man, executive director of the council, said many Hong Kong businesses were well-prepared as they had undergone the strain of tariff tensions as early as 2018 and started diversifying supply chains long ago. “The impact is not as big as we imagined because businesses have learned to be flexible,” she said. US exports now accounted for 6.5 per cent of Hong Kong’s total exports and the council expected only 3 per cent of the total would be affected by US tariffs, Fong added. The council earlier revised down its export growth forecast for the year from 4 per cent to 3 per cent given the uncertainties over a possible escalation of global trade tensions. Other strategies raised by Ma included rebranding the Asian Financial Forum, an annual flagship event of the council to be held in January, to include more industry elements such as the liquor and luxury goods trade. He also suggested that organisers of events take better advantage of current affairs, such as by holding an education fair to promote the city’s tertiary institutions at a time when US President Donald Trump was banning international students from attending Harvard University. Hong Kong could also organise an international robotics expo when the “six little dragons of Hangzhou” were reshaping the innovation landscape, he added. The six dragons are artificial intelligence company DeepSeek, robotics firms Unitree and Deep Robotics, video game studio Game Science, brain-machine interface innovator BrainCo and 3D interior design software developer Manycore. Ma said the council would continue to support small and medium-sized enterprises in digitalisation and supply chain optimisation, but he stressed that the companies also had to “step out of their comfort zones” to expand to new markets. The council would also examine the need to build more conference and exhibition facilities, particularly in the Northern Metropolis near the border, in the long run, he said. The move was necessary to maintain the city’s competitiveness when rivals in mainland China and India had much bigger event venues, he added. “We need to prepare for the competition head-on. These events will not only benefit the convention and exhibition industry, but also our hotel, catering, and retail businesses.” Executive director Fong said the council was reviewing the position of existing venues, such as AsiaWorld-Expo and the Convention and Exhibition Centre. “Our goal is that different types of exhibitions, conferences and events will take place in Hong Kong, where they can find a selection of venues,” she said. Fong said they would also work closely with other venues, such as Tai Kwun in Central and the West Kowloon Cultural District, to ensure event spaces across the city could be used flexibly.

Tariff war ‘not the end of the world’ for Hong Kong companies: trade council chief

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}New head of Trade Development Council Frederick Ma says no city capable of doing what Hong Kong can for businesses

New head of Trade Development Council Frederick Ma says no city capable of doing what Hong Kong can for businesses