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It's easy to destroy but hard to build
At the end of last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its latest report, reinforcing Hong Kong's position as a global financial centre, a regional trading hub, and one of the most open economies in the world. Hong Kong continues to maintain its advantage and competitiveness in terms of free flow of capital and information, simple tax regime, robust regulatory system, the rule of law, and quality professional services, etc. Among them, the sound regulatory policy and structure have maintained the stability of Hong Kong's financial system; the ample fiscal reserves have also provided the HKSAR Government with sufficient buffers to implement counter-cyclical measures to help Hong Kong cope with economic difficulties.
In fact, in addition to the IMF, Hong Kong has been continuously recognised by different international institutions in the areas of economy and business, finance, transportation and infrastructure, security, and rule of law, etc. These are the results of the efforts made by several generations of Hong Kong people which we should be proud of and cherish.
Economically, Hong Kong has been rated as the world's freest economy by the Heritage Foundation of the United States and the Fraser Institute of Canada for more than 20 years. In terms of business environment, the World Bank's Doing Business 2020 ranks Hong Kong as the third most convenient place to conduct business in the world. Hong Kong's competitiveness has been repeatedly ranked among the top three in the world ("World Competitiveness Report 2019" by International Institute for Management Development and "Global Competitiveness Report 2019" by World Economic Forum).
Hong Kong is particularly outstanding in the financial field. We have been repeatedly ranked as the third largest financial center in the world, second only to New York and London, and ranked first in Asia (Global Financial Centers Index produced by Z/Yen Partners and China Development Institute of Shenzhen). In the past eleven years, Hong Kong has been the world's top IPO market for seven times. We are also the world's largest offshore RMB centre and Asia's premier fund management centre.
In terms of transport infrastructure, Hong Kong's infrastructure competitiveness ranked third in the world ("Global Competitiveness Report 2019" by World Economic Forum). In 2018, Hong Kong's airport ranked first in the world in air cargo volume and the third in international passenger volume (Airports Council International).
Apart from economic development, Hong Kong's security and rule of law are also highly recognised by the international community. Hong Kong's judicial independence is second in Asia, the eighth in the world (World Economic Forum); rule of law is second in Asia, eleventh in the world (World Bank); law and order is second in Asia and the fifth in the world (Gallup's law and order index 2018). Hong Kong ranks fourteenth in the world for our corruption- free society (Transparency International).
The various ratings and rankings of course are based on the different scoring criteria and methodologies adopted by the relevant institutions, as well as their value orientation. Yet it is obvious that Hong Kong is a competitive city in various aspects and assessments from different perspectives.
It is worth noting that the scores and rankings mentioned above have not fully reflected the social events taken place in Hong Kong last year. The social turmoil and violent acts in the past six months have hard hit Hong Kong's international image and competitiveness. This year, Hong Kong's scores in various aspects may be adversely affected.
On security and public order, the violent acts, arsons, and vandalisms repeatedly occurred during the past six months, as well as assault on people with different views, not only ruined the sense of security for people living in Hong Kong, but also deterred international investors and tourists from visiting the city. In fact, the number of visitor arrivals in Hong Kong has reduced significantly by 40% to 50% in the past few months.
In terms of transport infrastructure, roads have been occupied and blocked and transport facilitates have been damaged from time to time in the past half a year. Citizens often took extra time for work or travel, or had to cancel their travel plans worrying that they could not find the way home. some people even set fire to MTR stations and trains, threatening passengers' safety. As for the incident that hit the airport last year and caused injuries, it not only damaged Hong Kong's reputation as a reliable and efficient international aviation hub, but also severely hampered the confidence of overseas businesses towards Hong Kong. Some visitors, freight and international conferences have changed their destinations to neighbouring regions. If the situation continues, our economic benefits as well as employment opportunities will be adversely affected.
In terms of the business environment, Hong Kong has all along advocated freedom, openness and diversity, and private properties are duly protected. These are the core elements of an ideal business environment. However, mob protesters have repeatedly harassed, vandalised and set fire to shops. These acts have seriously attacked Hong Kong's civilization and core values.
As for the rule of law, some people have recently set fire to the judiciary and even made personal attacks and intimidation against individual judges. These acts undermine the spirit of the rule of law and the criminals must be brought to justice.
Anyone who disagrees with the rulings of the court should appeal through the current system, and the public can also discuss the rulings rationally. In fact, our judicial system has been protected by the Basic Law under the "One Country, Two Systems" arrangement. At present, the Court of Final Appeal has 15 non-permanent judges from other common law jurisdictions (including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada) to provide valuable experience to the Hong Kong judiciary system. Recently, Madam Justice Beverley McLachlin, a Canadian Non-Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, said that Hong Kong's judiciary has always been independent and the judgment has not been affected by external pressure.
Hong Kong's economic development and international achievements are the result of the hard work of several generations. "Burning together" will destroy all the efforts made. The violent attacks damaged shops and public facilities, and hampered people's confidence in the future, adding pressure on the economy which is already in a downturn, and reducing Government revenue, This will in turn weaken our resources for public services, affecting the needy and underprivileged members of the community. I hope everyone of us can recognise the damages and harm of violence, cherish and protect Hong Kong, our home.
January 5, 2020
