Hong Kong business leaders fear political strife could hold city back

Members of Hong Kong's business elite say they fear that mounting political gridlock threatens the city's ability to flourish in a changing world.

A growing number of Hongkongers are turning on Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's administration amid a slew of scandals, a perceived lack of progress on political reform and record-high housing prices. Street marches and protests are on the rise, with the threat of a shutdown of the streets in Central looming next summer if no progress is made towards universal suffrage.

Speaking at a seminar on the city's future hosted by the Post yesterday, businessman Vincent Lo Hong-shui said: "Business is deeply involved with politics."

"Unfortunately, the community in Hong Kong has become overly critical," said Lo, chairman of listed developer Shui On Group. He feels the businessmen who have gone into politics have done little to help. "A lot of former businessmen don't speak on behalf of their industry any more after becoming politicians. How would that work?"

"I am very worried about the political situation in Hong Kong - my biggest worry for the city," Lo said.

Benjamin Hung Pi-cheng, chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong, compared the current mentality of Hong Kong people towards business opportunities to "11 footballers staying in defence mode" rather than moving forward to try to score goals.

"Within Hong Kong, we did very crap," Hung said. "We are fighting each other and spending most of our energy doing that."