City leader John Lee addresses attendees on the first day of the Asian Financial Forum. Photo: K.Y. Cheng
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https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3206378/coronavirus-hong-kong-will-return-normality-fast-yet-orderly-pace-city-leader-john-lee-says-regional Hong Kong economy
Coronavirus: Hong Kong will return to normality quickly but safely, city leader John Lee says at regional financial forum
- ‘Rest assured, we’ll go fast in a safe and orderly manner towards our shared goal of everything resuming as normal,’ city leader tells attendees at Asian Financial Forum
- Administration officials to join Lee in travelling overseas to promote Hong Kong’s return to centre stage after three-year hiatus, he adds
Hong Kong is speeding ahead to “make up for the time we lost over the past few years”, its leader John Lee says. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
Hong Kong will return to normal quickly but in a “safe and orderly manner”, the city’s leader has said, vowing that top officials heading overseas will convince key markets the financial hub has returned to centre stage after three years of Covid-19 curbs.
Addressing the Asian Financial Forum on Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said that while global economic uncertainties would weigh on Hong Kong in 2023, its future remained bright because of the continued support of mainland China.
“Rest assured, we’ll go fast in a safe and orderly manner towards our shared goal of everything resuming as normal as soon as practicable and possible,” he told attendees.
The two-day regional forum is being held as a physical event in Hong Kong for the first time since the pandemic began in early 2020. About 2,000 people are attending in person and more than 3,000 others online.
Lee said investors and tourists could now benefit from the resumption of quarantine-free travel with the mainland, adding that Hong Kong was speeding ahead to “make up for the time we lost over the past few years”.
The restrictions along the city’s shared border with the mainland were lifted on Sunday and followed an extensive reduction of Covid-19 restrictions in both locations from December last year.
Lee told forum members that he and his administrative team would be “running” around the world after the Lunar New Year holiday to promote Hong Kong’s advantages and opportunities to overseas audiences.
“We will be leading delegations to long-standing and emerging markets in the region and around the world. We need to tell them to tell the world that Hong Kong is back on the centre stage,” he said.
Hong Kong offered investors a business-friendly environment that aligned with international regulations and enjoyed a free flow of capital and people, as well as opportunities generated by the city’s deepening integration with national development, he said.
But Lee admitted the city economy would be affected by global economic uncertainties. The International Monetary Fund has forecast that global growth would slow to 2.7 per cent this year from 3.2 per cent in 2022.
He admitted the short-term prospects could be “challenging”, but Beijing’s continued support would ensure Hong Kong had a bright future as a global financial hub linking the mainland to the rest of the world.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, who spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the forum, said he recognised that Hong Kong would face a tough international environment this year, with the European economy in particularly bad shape.
But he predicted that a strong recovery of the mainland economy in 2023 – especially in the second half of the year – would provide strong support to Hong Kong and offer a cushion to some of the global headwinds.
The border reopening would also provide a boost, he added, as higher exports and personal consumption driven by returning mainland visitors would contribute to the city’s economy.
“Overall, we’re more optimistic about the economic outlook of 2023 than last year,” he said.
Chan also downplayed concerns about Hong Kong’s real estate market. Last year’s lower transaction tally of residential property indicated that homeowners and developers were not under pressure to find buyers fast, he argued.
“We all know that property prices in Hong Kong are actually quite high,” he said. “The price only fell by 14 to 15 per cent from the peak in August and September 2021 to the end of November last year.”
A tender for a residential plot in Stanley was withdrawn on Tuesday after all four bids failed to meet the government’s reserve price.
The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce said it expected the city’s economy to grow by 3.8 per cent in 2023 in a forecast released earlier this week, and singled out the resumption of cross-border travel as the main driver.
Billy Mak Sui-choi, an associate professor at Baptist University’s department of finance and decision sciences, said the expectations were reasonable.
Given the final figure for last year’s economic performance was expected to show a contraction, gross domestic product (GDP) for 2023 might grow 2 to 3 percentage points if this year’s economic activities returned to the 2021 level, he said.
Mak said tourism used to make up around 6 per cent of the city’s GDP before the border closure.
Even if a labour crunch might slow the sector’s recovery, even a 30 per cent return to pre-pandemic tourist numbers would contribute a further 1 to 2 percentage points to GDP growth for 2023, he added.
Lee on Tuesday said authorities were planning to launch a “big” promotion to revive the tourism industry in February, when more leisure and business travellers were expected to return after the three-year interruption.
The Tourism Board announced last month it would also launch its own global campaign called “Hello! Hong Kong” later in the year.
Hong Kong’s Covid-19 outbreak continued to ease on Wednesday with new cases below the 10,000 mark for the second day in a row.
Health authorities reported 9,279 cases, including 262 imported ones, along with 67 Covid-related deaths.
The city’s total Covid-19 tally stood at 2,800,239 infections and 12,548 fatalities.