Major business groups in Hong Kong report membership boost as more people return, branch out locally following easing of coronavirus curbs
- But heads of American and European, Australian chambers of commerce say Hong Kong must further relax travel restrictions to entice talent
- Increase in business group memberships follows lifting of hotel quarantine requirement in late September in favour of three-day medical surveillance period
Major business chambers in Hong Kong have reported an increase in membership as more people either return to the city or explore local opportunities for growth following the relaxation of Covid-19 travel curbs, striking a note of optimism over the city’s push to re-engage with the wider world.
But the heads of the American, European and Australian chambers of commerce cautioned on Monday that the government needed to target a wide array of global talent to revive the city’s fortunes and suggested it drop remaining restrictions on arrivals to lure executives back.
Inaki Amate, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce which comprises 13 lobbies, said that while several organisations had lost 15 to 20 per cent of their individual members last year, they were now witnessing a “small rebound”.
“We have started to see people coming to visit their businesses … also people starting to travel from Hong Kong going abroad,” he told the Post after speaking at an event on business confidence at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club.
“In the last month, we hear more stories of people coming and travelling for business than stories of people leaving Hong Kong.”
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Singapore reverses downward-population trend, while Hong Kong exodus continues
But the rebound, which consisted of new joiners, renewed memberships and people returning to Hong Kong, remained “very small scale” and was “mostly symbolic” at this point, he cautioned.
