Hong Kong should do more to foster development of sharing economy

Hong Kong is falling behind other Asian cities in developing its sharing economy amid the government’s lack of meaningful dialogue with major companies in this sector and the inadequate support for local start-ups.

That was the view raised by panellists on Tuesday at the latest edition of the “Redefining Hong Kong Debate Series” organised by the South China Morning Post.

“Because of government regulations being very outdated and the government bureaus being a bit too conservative, they cannot make the changes that are necessary,” said Charles Mok, the legislative councillor representing the information technology functional constituency in Hong Kong.

His comments reflect the challenge faced by the Hong Kong government.

Loosely defined as the renting out of products and services instead of ownership, the sharing economy started out with the idea of renting out personal cars that sit idle in garages or homes that are empty during long holidays – think Uber Technologies and Airbnb – but has since evolved into businesses providing to consumers who are content to pay for what they use.