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Wai-Hong Tang

Neville Lai

Sustainability, technology and innovation are key to building a smart city. While these buzzwords appeared in Hong Kong’s latest policy address, the new initiatives were mostly concentrated in a limited number of areas, such as fintech, biotech and ecosystem integration in the Greater Bay Area.
There seems to be a lack of due consideration of their application in upgrading Hong Kong’s traditional industries. One such industry is textiles and apparel. As we navigate out of the pandemic, we should rethink the future of this industry, which once epitomised the city’s economic rise.
Hong Kong should leverage its role as a trendsetter of sustainable fashion, its research and development capabilities, and its networks in East Asia. 
While what was once the most important sector in Hong Kong’s manufacturing industry now constitutes only a tiny percentage of the city’s GDP, let’s not forget it still has strong potential to become a brand builder in the region.
The city is known for both its high-quality products and high-end R&D capabilities. Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s Institute of Textiles and Clothing, for example, is ranked at the top globally for its research performance and impact on industry.

And at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva 2021, the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel won seven medals, including a “gold medal with congratulations of the jury” and two gold medals for its environmentally sustainable inventions.
Hong Kong should continue to invest in R&D in the industry, to sharpen its competitive edge in the design and production of high-quality, environmentally sustainable textiles and apparel products. While it might be a tall – if not impossible – order for Hong Kong to build a clothing brand that can rival market giants such as Uniqlo, the city remains a major trendsetter in the region.
Hong Kong’s continuing significance as a market for high-end fashion, with a deep pool of international talent, was seen in the launch of Vogue Hong Kong in 2019.

Notwithstanding the criticism of the government’s failure to foster a favourable environment for innovative, non-financial start-ups, local labels such as Harrison Wong and Sau Lee have been internationally recognised for their design and quality. 
With a strong talent pool and R&D capacity, Hong Kong’s textiles and apparel industry is in a better position than many of its competitors to navigate a changing regional and global economic order. Hong Kong remains an attractive business destination with extensive trade and production networks in East Asia.
Hong Kong’s free trade and investment pact with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations took effect in 2019 and has created new opportunities and facilitated Hong Kong’s commerce with a dynamic region of more than 600 million people. 
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Further, the signing and ratification of the 15-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) presents a timely opportunity for Hong Kong to strengthen its role as a “super-connector” in East Asia.
Hong Kong is a leading international sourcing hub for textiles and apparel products. By removing trade and investment barriers between regional markets, the mega trade deal not only creates new market space for Hong Kong’s textiles and apparel manufacturers when commerce with the US and the European Union has been badly hit by the pandemic and geopolitical uncertainty, but it also provides an opportunity for them to restructure their supply chains.




With Hong Kong’s middleman role in hosting trade fairs and expos, the city could further innovate by, for example, developing new and upgrading existing e-commerce platforms to facilitate information exchange, verify buyers and suppliers, and provide transactional support. 
Hong Kong is once again at a crossroads of change. While some want the city to cling to what has worked in the past, others want it to abandon whatever is deemed to belong to history.
However, change and continuity should never be seen as a binary opposition. Hong Kong should be confident in its human capital and research capability, while leveraging its existing and expanding international connections to reinvigorate its textiles and apparel industry. Such a move will help diversify the economy away from its reliance on finance and property development.
Wai-Hong Tang is an independent researcher on the international political economy of East and Central Asia. Neville Lai is an independent researcher


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Opinion

News

Hong Kong


Its role as a trendsetter of sustainable fashion, with superior R&D capabilities in textiles and apparel, and good networks in East Asia, are all competitive advantages the city would be foolish not to leverage



Its role as a regional trendsetter, with superior R&D capabilities in textiles and apparel, and good networks in East Asia, are competitive advantages the city would be foolish not to leverage – particularly as the RCEP kicks in.


Hong Kong economy

Technology

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)
