Hong Kong best place to do business, City’super Group President says
The South China Morning Post posed five key questions to all interviewees in the Moving Forward series, seeking their insight on the city’s future. Here, president of high-end supermarket chain City’super Thomas Woo Ka-wah notes that rules and regulations in Hong Kong that give freedom for entrepreneurs to operate
Do you think Hong Kong is still an ideal place to do business?
Absolutely. Hong Kong is the No 1 location to do business. It is a well-regulated city with rules and order and at the same time it gives a lot of freedom to entrepreneurs. They can run various types of businesses based on innovative ideas or with new operating models.
It is very relaxed. You can import almost any type of food or drink to Hong Kong. That has made the city the ideal place to run lifestyle stores for food and beverages. Our stores in mainland China can offer about 60 per cent of what we can offer in Hong Kong because there are more restrictions. In addition, the tax rate of the city is so low it is easy to do business.
How is your company coping with the economic downturn in Hong Kong and the mainland?
Unlike fashion or jewellery, which is more volatile because sales volumes will change with the economic cycle, our business in food and beverage is more stable. When the market and economy is good, people don’t eat much more than normal. Likewise, when the economy turns down, people still need to eat. Our business hasn’t really been hit hard by the economic slowdown. Still, we will slow our expansion plans and be more careful about spending during a downturn.
What do you think the government should do to help your business to do better?
