HK businesses optimistic over economy in next two years

Hong Kong's business community is becoming upbeat about the local economy in the next two years, according to the findings of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce's (HKGCC) annual Business Prospects Survey which was released here Wednesday.

"2004 has been a good year to most businesses in Hong Kong. Many people can actually feel the benefits in one way or the other. Our survey shows that the majority of the local business community is becoming optimistic, and this is a very encouraging sign," said HKGCC CEO Eden Woon.

For 2005, 30.9 percent of respondents expect the overall business conditions to be "good" or "very good," up from 19.2 percent a year earlier. As for 2006, conditions are expected to be "good" or "very good" in the opinion of 41.2 percent of the responding companies, and "poor" or "very poor" in just 7.1 percent of the respondents.

The optimism within the local business community has also been reflected in their corporate wage review plans for 2005. Up to 19.6 percent of the respondents said there would be a general wage rise compared with 7.3 percent a year ago. And 61.2 percent of the respondents said wage adjustment would be based on performance compared with 42.6 percent a year earlier.

The survey was conducted from mid-October to mid-November this year.

It contained 43 questions covering a broad range of topics of concern to the local business community. Among these are the outlook for economic and business conditions, Hong Kong's competitiveness, the government's role, Hong Kong's situation, economic relations with the Chinese mainland, and background information on the respondents.

There were 281 valid responses received for a 9.3 percent response rate.

The survey has been conducted every year since 1998.

Source: Xinhua