The survey was conducted between mid-January and the beginning of February last year and its results are “very negative” for Hong Kong, written Bloomberg.com.
Of some 260 European companies based in the autonomous territory that responded to questions from the European Chamber of Commerce, 25% indicated that they plan to leave Hong Kong altogether in 2022 and 24% are preparing to relocate at least part of their staff and their activities. Only 17% say they have no intention of moving in the next twelve months.
This new survey echoes other polls conducted in recent months. In particular that of the American Chamber of Commerce which had revealed that 44% of expatriates were likely to leave the city permanently because of particularly severe travel restrictions.
Measures such as twenty-one-day quarantines imposed on new arrivals, compulsory hospitalization of those who test positive regardless of their symptoms and the isolation, in Spartan conditions, of contact cases have also prompted many expats to consider leaving.
A warning to the Hong Kong authorities
The results of this latest survey, revealed at the height of a new wave of contamination which on the spot is causing the “chaos”give the measure of the loss of business confidence, believes Bloomberg.com. Previously chosen as a privileged destination in Asia because of its openness to the world, the city has found itself for two years almost totally isolated by the strategy “zero Covid” inspired by Beijing.
“Given the massive turnout of our members, our survey should serve as a wake-up call, emphasizes Frederik Gollob, President of the European Chamber of Commerce. For two years, European business circles have been shaken. Recent easings have brought some relief, but they have been widely seen as insufficient and too late. We need a clear plan to get back to normal in order to create positive momentum. Re-establishing Hong Kong as ‘Asia’s global city’ must now be the overriding goal.”