https://www.scmp.com/rss/322022/feed Dr Victor K. Fung, chairman of Fung Investments, co-chaired the International Chamber of Commerce Advisory Group on Trade Finance (2020-21). en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Supply chains are becoming increasingly complex and fragmented. While these shifts are resulting in economic benefits for emerging and developing countries with strong manufacturing sectors in the Asia-Pacific, not all businesses are positioned to succeed. The small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that form the backbone of global supply chains anchored in the region still lack the access to finance they need to adapt to this new, more demanding era of global trade. This includes meeting the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3270188/how-hong-kong-can-support-asias-smes-era-trade-disruptions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3270188/how-hong-kong-can-support-asias-smes-era-trade-disruptions?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Jul 2024 21:30:09 +0000 Goods and services move around the world through the work of ships, trucks, planes, bytes and money. The US$5.2 trillion global trade finance system is as essential as the container or the data server to facilitate global trade. But it doesn’t always work as well as it could. According to the Asian Development Bank, the trade financing gap reached US$1.7 trillion in 2020, up 15 per cent from 2018. As a percentage of the global goods trade, the gap grew from 8 per cent in 2018 to 10 per cent in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3157042/how-small-firms-will-benefit-simpler-integrated-trade-finance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3157042/how-small-firms-will-benefit-simpler-integrated-trade-finance?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Nov 2021 06:30:16 +0000 If past is prologue, then Hong Kong’s economic take-off after China officially established its special economic zones in the Pearl River Delta 40 years ago this summer points to a future of expanding economic horizons for our city within the Greater Bay Area. New physical infrastructure and trade facilitation measures are in place to help drive this next cross-border transformation, which promises larger commercial flows, lower costs, higher efficiencies and greater prosperity for Hong Kong and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/asia/article/2182387/pearl-river-delta-made-hong-kong-richer-40-years-ago?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/asia/article/2182387/pearl-river-delta-made-hong-kong-richer-40-years-ago?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jan 2019 22:30:15 +0000 Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is missing a key area as she doles out an extra HK$5 billion a year in education spending. The main beneficiaries will be students of self-financed degree programmes in private universities, as each would receive a HK$30,000 subsidy, while local students attending universities on the mainland would get a ­HK$5,000 subsidy.Contract teachers would benefit as well, as most would become tenured staff. However, the chief executive should also have allocated some of the HK$5... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2101997/depressed-hong-kong-students-need-better-mental-health?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2101997/depressed-hong-kong-students-need-better-mental-health?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Jul 2017 07:55:21 +0000 Some educators and politicians in Hong Kong have advised young people that it’s not worth studying for an associate degree. They are wrong. They base their advice on the fact that associate-degree holders’ median monthly income has dropped by 18 per cent over the past two decades. Today, they earn only as much as those with a high-school education. Social and education leaders should stop making disheartening comments [about sub degrees] ... They should know better Official figures show that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2015978/dont-see-hong-kongs-associate-degrees-substandard?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2015978/dont-see-hong-kongs-associate-degrees-substandard?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Sep 2016 09:14:48 +0000 Hong Kong people are unhappy and 42 per cent of them are considering leaving, according to a survey by think tank Civic Exchange. The poll also reveals that 70 per cent believe quality of life has become “worse” or “much worse”. People care about the quality of government, the quality and cost of housing, and education. And they are far from satisfied with how these issues are being addressed. Quality of life in Hong Kong worsening with political struggles and astronomic housing prices, research... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1980743/it-really-wont-take-much-make-hongkongers-happier?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1980743/it-really-wont-take-much-make-hongkongers-happier?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Jun 2016 01:02:07 +0000 Not so long ago, university graduates in Hong Kong received good job offers, were able to buy a flat three to four years after graduation and lived a happy middle-class life. This picture, however, has changed starkly. Most graduates of tertiary institutions today do not end up with nice jobs and can’t afford to buy their own home. Many of them resort to applying for public housing. Nevertheless, the waiting time is between four and seven years, if they are eligible. The government should build... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1899058/government-needs-cater-housing-needs-hong-kongs-young?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1899058/government-needs-cater-housing-needs-hong-kongs-young?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Jan 2016 01:01:09 +0000 China announced last week that it has relaxed the rules for foreigners investing in its weakening property market. The move is timely in arresting declining prices. As many Chinese stock investors face margin calls (the Shanghai A-share index has dropped to the 3,000 level from 5,000 just a month ago), some are having to sell their property holdings to raise cash. If the property market suffers a rout, Beijing leaders might find themselves in hot water. Last week, six Chinese ministries -... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1854903/china-right-extend-warmer-welcome-foreign-investment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1854903/china-right-extend-warmer-welcome-foreign-investment?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Sep 2015 02:46:16 +0000 New World Trade Organisation director general Roberto Azevedo has been in office barely a month, but already he has helped reboot the stalled Doha Round of world trade negotiations. Signs of his early progress could not have come sooner. The pressure is on for the WTO to seal a deal at its December ministerial meeting in Bali that will restore faith in its negotiating ability, validate the multilateral trading system and provide a much-needed boost to the global economic recovery. Azevedo has... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1322173/wto-must-seal-deal-cross-border-trade-reinvigorate-doha?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1322173/wto-must-seal-deal-cross-border-trade-reinvigorate-doha?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 01 Oct 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Many middle-class people in Hong Kong work hard, create wealth for themselves and contribute to society's well-being. Not without reason is the city admired as the Pearl of the Orient. People have a sense of belonging. But when we look at mainland China, it is a different story. Many wealthy Chinese are leaving the country in droves. Take, for example, the EB-5 US Immigrant Investor programme that offers foreign investors the possibility of becoming permanent residents. In 2011, 41 per cent of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1279622/vet-emigrating-chinese-ill-gotten-wealth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1279622/vet-emigrating-chinese-ill-gotten-wealth?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jul 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Oh my goodness, we are racist! The World Values Survey shows that almost 27 per cent of citizens said they would not want a neighbour of a different race. Other intolerant citizens include those from Bangladesh, Jordan and India. My gut reaction was: let's blame the British. They colonised us for more than 150 years until the handover in 1997. British people are notoriously racist, I thought. I was wrong. The survey finds that fewer than 5 per cent of Britons are racially intolerant. And... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1252679/blame-british-colonial-legacy-hong-kongs-racial-intolerance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1252679/blame-british-colonial-legacy-hong-kongs-racial-intolerance?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 The call from a legal expert to appoint only Chinese judges to Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal is alarmist and misguided. Such a move would only erode investors' confidence in the city. Mainland scholar Cheng Jie, a former researcher for the Basic Law Committee, told a seminar this month that the Court of Final Appeal should be made up only of Chinese nationals. She said this would reflect the principle of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong. Alan Hoo, chairman of the Basic Law Institute, said... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1092328/chinese-only-judges-top-court-would-hurt-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1092328/chinese-only-judges-top-court-would-hurt-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 Chen Zuoer, the former deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing and a key negotiator during the 1997 handover, said recently that "a force calling for Hong Kong independence has been gaining momentum in recent years, and it has spread like a virus". He needn't worry; there is no independence force, or virus. Not for an instant would I or hundreds of others ever believe that an independence movement could take root in this city. Our water, fuel and food - without which... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1081707/independent-hong-kong-isnt-anyones-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1081707/independent-hong-kong-isnt-anyones-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Nov 2012 16:00:00 +0000 The traditional Confucius teaching of 'modesty', a core Chinese value for centuries, has made many Hong Kong people passive and that is bad for Hong Kong's future. It is time we change this belief. We should help young people realise that bragging, boasting or blowing one's own trumpet isn't always improper behaviour. Hong Kong is a great financial centre, and we should tell the world that we are the best Chinese, if not Asian, city to do business with. In the workplace, if we are experts... https://www.scmp.com/article/982397/be-proud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/982397/be-proud?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:00:00 +0000 We must start educating our children about the media. Young people's values can be influenced by what they learn in the media, and we are seeing disturbing signs of what's happening. Some computer companies, for example, give students discounts to buy computers. It's not uncommon, at the beginning of the school year, to see students selling their discount rights through internet chat rooms. The young people know full well that they are breaking the rules, but they do it anyway, to make a... https://www.scmp.com/article/564383/beware-medias-influence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/564383/beware-medias-influence?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Sep 2006 16:00:00 +0000 Detractors often pour cold water on the initiative to internationalise university education in Hong Kong. They argue that we don't have the expertise, the money or the will to do it. But I believe success is attainable as long as we - like paddlers in a dragon boat race - set our sights on the finish line and don't worry about getting a bit wet. Providing an internationalised education is vital to Hong Kong's survival. It is a strategic move. We need future leaders who have an... https://www.scmp.com/article/562769/bringing-world-our-universities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/562769/bringing-world-our-universities?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Sep 2006 16:00:00 +0000 Many parents complain about the local education system. They spend more time protesting against the teaching medium, the exam system and the syllabuses than educating their children. Worse, some simply give up and send their youngsters overseas. As parents, do we ever ask ourselves whether we have contributed our share to help educate our young? No education system is perfect; and I believe education starts at home. We parents should often consider our own actions, not just criticise... https://www.scmp.com/article/561646/lesson-parents-education-begins-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/561646/lesson-parents-education-begins-home?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Aug 2006 16:00:00 +0000