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Coronavirus Hong Kong: finance chief calls for ‘solidarity’ as he asks big landlords to offer rent relief to struggling tenants
- Financial Secretary Paul Chan’s appeal comes one day after city’s leader asks developers to relieve rental ‘burden’ placed on tenants
- Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Chan highlight example of Swire Properties, who has offered support to businesses at its wholly-owned shopping malls
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The finance chief has called on leading landlords in Hong Kong to provide rent relief to struggling businesses so they can better ride out the Covid-19 health crisis.
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The appeal by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Sunday came a day after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor urged developers “to ramp up their battle” against the pandemic by giving rental waivers to the affected tenants.
Writing on his blog, Chan said: “I hope that there will be more capable developers and big landlords who shoulder their social responsibility by joining hands to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“[I hope] they can arrive at a proposal both acceptable to the landlord and affordable to the tenant … This is the time when Hong Kong desperately needs people to join forces to demonstrate the spirit of mutual understanding and solidarity.”
Both Lam and Chan referred to the example of Swire Properties, one of Hong Kong’s biggest retail landlords, which said on Friday that it would offer full rental waivers until April 20 to tenants forced to close at its wholly-owned shopping malls, Cityplaza and Pacific Place.
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A call for rent relief featured in the finance chief’s budget on Wednesday, with plans for businesses across 19 sectors to be allowed to delay payments from January for potentially up to six months under a newly planned law.
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