HK's decline reflects lack of innovation

Post date: Dec 08, 2015 7:45:16 PM

Lately, there have been a lot of media reports pointing to the decline of Hong Kong's competitiveness regionally and globally. Hong Kong does not lack financial capital or talent. So what is our problem?

Growing up in the 1950s in working-class Wan Chai, I witnessed the birth of a unique social subculture. Makeshift sewing factories housed in tin sheds were a common sight. Young girls and housewives would sit around dining tables assembling plastic flowers, wigs and even oil paintings.

The Hong Kong entrepreneurial spirit and flexibility represented a brand admired by foreigners, and this was the case from the 1950s right up to the early 1970s. There was an endless supply of unskilled labour capable of making whatever adjustments were necessary to earn a living. Trading dominated the Hong Kong economy when I was a child.

If our government and the business community had foreseen the paradigm shift and had the wisdom to invest and nurture a multifaceted workforce, rather than concentrating on financial services and banking, we would stand a chance of staying ahead of the game today in a world that is service-centric and driven by creation and innovation.

One possible measure that has been suggested in the past is to adopt a system of tax breaks for start-ups as an important inducer to developing new enterprises. Might I add that the government and the private sector should consider establishing a dollar-matching programme to invest in our young men and women who have talent and ideas for new firms or projects.

Philip S. K. Leung, Pok Fu Lam

19 June, 2014http://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/1535782/letters-editor-june-19-2014?page=all