Hong Kong set for economic breakthroughs, Paul Chan tells foreign investors Hong Kong will achieve new economic breakthroughs despite a “complicated and volatile” external environment, the finance chief has told foreign investors while unveiling the government’s first business report in four years. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Wednesday that the city was in the midst of transformation and upgrading, but warned that some traditional industries would struggle more than others. Overseas misperceptions about Hong Kong prompted the government to detail the city’s latest economic situation in the report, which is accessible online to investors abroad. “With a complicated and volatile external environment, Hong Kong is undergoing economic transformation and upgrading, but we see more opportunities than challenges,” Chan said. “As long as we seek and embrace changes proactively, we will surely achieve new breakthroughs, develop new growth points, and create a new chapter for Hong Kong.” He also added that the 102-page report, titled “Unique Strengths under ‘One Country Two Systems’”, clearly and systematically demonstrated to the world that the development of Hong Kong had been picking up in recent years as social stability had been restored. The report cited the backing of Chinese President Xi Jinping for Hong Kong’s governance system, which it called a cornerstone of the city’s long-term prosperity and stability, as well as a pillar supporting further development. Chan said that over the last few years, many overseas visitors had not had the opportunity to come to Hong Kong and that there were misperceptions about the city’s situation due to geopolitics. “We are trying very hard to reach out to the international community to share with them what is really happening in Hong Kong by sharing some facts and data.” Authorities have been striving to revive the city’s economy and restore business confidence after a tumultuous period marked by political changes and the Covid-19 pandemic. The government last issued such a report in 2021, at a time when the city was emerging from the 2019 anti-government protests and the enactment of the national security law the following year. Despite the ongoing pandemic, the report said Hong Kong was “back on track” with a business environment that provided “unlimited room for future development,” highlighting the city’s zero-tariff policy and simple, low tax regime. Since then, the city has continued to face challenges, including a now-abated talent exodus brought about by gruelling pandemic restrictions and additional uncertainties due to faltering sectors of the mainland Chinese economy. Earlier this year, after Donald Trump was re-elected as US president, the city once again found itself caught in the geopolitical headwinds of a trade war between the United States and China. Meanwhile, the government has taken great strides to offset the impacts. It has invested billions of Hong Kong dollars into strategic industries and developments while seeking to diversify the city’s economy and forged new partnerships with markets in Asean and the Middle East. Authorities have unveiled several initiatives to attract foreign investors in a bid to revive the economy from its post-pandemic slump, including tax concessions and an upgraded investment-for-residency scheme to entice global family offices. The number of non-Hong Kong companies with operations in the city reached a record 15,126 at the end of 2024, following a net addition of more than 1,000 firms last year, according to data from the Companies Registry. A poll by the city’s American Chamber of Commerce of its members earlier this year showed that 79 per cent of respondents said they had no intention of relocating their headquarters outside the city in the next three years. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3320122/hong-kong-set-economic-breakthroughs-paul-chan-tells-foreign-investors (ICE HONG KONG)

Fonte notizia: South China Morning Post