2021.04.23
INDUSTRY NEWS - 2021.04.23
1、紡織廢料 研變天然抗水耐洗物料 港團隊奪國際發明獎 冀助業界添競爭力
可持續發展成為時裝業關注的焦點，本地也有不少團隊致力研發相關環保方案及技術。
香港紡織及成衣研發中心（HKRITA）旗下團隊，研發出一項全新的疏水表面處理方式，利用紡織廢料中的天然及不含全氟化合物再生纖維素材料製成，以改良再生纖維素粉末的疏水功能，加強衣物抗水效果，並提高織物耐洗性。
香港紡織及成衣研發中心昨（20日）公布2021年日內瓦國際發明展得獎項目。其行政總裁葛儀文表示，中心已連續10年參與該項發明展，至今一共獲得52項獎項，並在本年度獲得7項大獎。葛儀文又稱，可持續發展仍是未來的研發重點，希望透過研發創新科技方案，幫助紡織業界在技術上轉型，提高競爭力。
花300萬研發 年底次階段測試
有團隊研發出名為「再生纖維基素不含全氟化合物表面處理」方案，為一項全新疏水表面處理方式。香港紡織及成衣研發中心項目經理張晗蓉透露，團隊花費約300萬元資金進行研發，至今已研究超過1年。
張解釋，由於衣服上的疏水物資一般以全氟化合物（PFCs）應用於紡織品上而成，但全氟化合物含有毒素，對人體及環境有害。此項目透過蒐集廢棄衣物的紡織廢料，利用當中及不含全氟化合物的再生纖維材料進行製作，比起全氟化合物的物料更安全。
她續指，在測試過程中，需經過兩個化合處理步驟，包括通過疏水化學處理，改良再生纖維素粉末的疏水性能。然後再加入功能性添加劑，從而加強織物的防水效果，以及提高耐洗性。她透露，雖然項目仍處於首階段的研發過程，但已獲得不少業界關注。「現時正與不同對象商談合作，業界將會投放資金一同參與研發，預計最快於今年底進行第二階段測試。」
「仿生孕婦足護」 研3款鞋墊
另一方面，有團隊針對孕婦需求，研發出一套「仿生孕婦功能足護系統」。本地市面上缺乏針對孕婦需求的衣着產品，該團隊根據孕婦在懷孕初期、中期及後期等階段，推出3款不同鞋墊設計，並分別用不同物料構成。
據了解，由於孕婦在懷孕期間體重會不斷上升，加上鬆弛素賀爾蒙增加，導致出現腳部腫脹及足弓塌陷等問題。
該設計項目採用三維立體針織、增材製造及模塑材料技術，以及仿陸棲生物足部特徵與人體工學設計，可因應孕婦足型變化作出改變，藉此緩解孕婦出現足痛的問題，改善足部健康。
除此之外，該款產品也適合過重、患有扁平足人士使用。該項目與香港理工大學合作研發而成，理工大學紡織及服裝學系助理教授劉蓉表示，目前項目已完成研發，團隊正有意向本地不同廠商接洽，將方案授權廠商製造，希望加快應用方案，及早將產品推出市場。
資料來源：香港經濟日報 (2021年4月21日)
2、受惠網購盛行 港產虛擬試衫系統疫情彈起
有香港公司透過時裝科技，助顧客看到試身的實際效果，解決網購容易買錯衣服尺碼的問題，顧客亦在透過軟件試看自己身穿名店名貴衣服的效果，極具潛力，軟件在推出短短兩個月內引來多間公司尋求合作。
Quantum Matrix 創辦人桂濱說：「我們是時裝科技公司，主要是希望做一些全世界都未曾做過的事物，便嘗試在兼顧本身電腦動畫公司的情況下開發新軟件，最後投入了接近 10 年的時間開發。這個軟件即時用到客戶的身材樣貌，只要錄入身高體重、自拍，就能製作數碼替身，然後 1 秒便能為數碼替身換衣服，和坊間其他軟件不同，有關技術亦已經申請了專利。」
桂濱笑言，幾年來都聽過不少朋友的勸告，指他的軟件太「前衛」，因為顧客買衫、特別是名牌必須親身到店試或專人送抵住宅；但後來市場受疫情影響，網購大行其道，消費者心態轉型，時裝企業紛紛尋求新商機，Quantum Matrix 的技術正好可以填上市場缺口。
桂濱說：「有數間時裝國際品牌直接告訴我們，說這個系統是他們見過最先進的虛擬試衫系統，通常普通的換衣程式都是統一採用無特徵的 model，我們不僅用上消費者的外表，在衣服的物理計算亦非常出色。這方面有賴於我們的技能積累，我們亦在系統裏加入自訂打光、選擇姿勢等功能。」
桂濱透露，現時我公司已跟荷蘭 Calvin Klein 合作，最近兩個月裏亦已經跟 6 間公司協商，並開始進行第二輪融資，希望未來能將系統帶去更多國家。
桂濱指出，軟件除了能解決網購買錯尺碼的問題，在名店、低價服裝店都各有市場，例如消費者可以在名店裏大肆嘗試名貴衣服穿在自己身上的效果，民生服裝店舖也可以測試各款搭配和測試大小是否合適。
資料來源：香港經濟日報 (2021年4月20日)
3、紡織品：內地採購增 羊毛一年最貴
「羊毛出自羊身上」這句話可謂家喻戶曉，常常用來形容成本轉嫁消費者，隨着「萬物齊漲」，羊毛確實也漲價了，並升至一年最高，主因是最大進口國中國率先走出疫情，正進行穩定的採購！
外媒引述澳洲政府統計顯示，澳洲佔全球羊毛出口約四成，而中國就進口了八成的澳洲羊毛。雖然中國近期對澳洲的大麥、肉類和葡萄酒等產品實施加稅或停止進口等措施，但羊毛未受影響，保持了正常採購。
據澳洲當地羊毛指標拍賣價格顯示，在4月中旬為每公斤12.91澳元（約77港元），而在去年9月時，價格僅8.58澳元，升幅約五成。有日本毛織公司指出，中國採用超細羊毛的內衣和雙面絨外套的需求增加。
羊毛在製作衣物上用途廣泛，尤其西裝及制服，今年以來價格持續上升。有觀點認為，由於日本、歐美等地對於服裝需求尚未復甦，需求並不強勁，羊毛價格短期可能會調整，但長期來看仍會上揚，主要是在疫苗取得進展後，到了秋冬季來臨，屆時服裝需求將會恢復。
棉花期貨反彈
衣物另一主要原材料棉花也漲價。受美國當地產區乾旱威脅，紐約棉花期貨近日反彈，5月合約曾高見每磅83.77美仙。分析師稱，美國農業部調升當地棉花出口預期，同時下降庫存預估，不排除價格有機會續升。
資料來源：東方日報 (2021年4月23日)
4、中央專項預算 投資灣區涉港澳項目 河套橫琴合作區優先受惠 支持創科及創業平台
【明報專訊】國家發展改革委昨天（19日）公布新政策，將設立中央預算內投資專項資金，在5年內直接投資大灣區內地9市與港澳相關科創、創業、教育、基礎設施建設或其他有重大意義項目，將優先支持河套深港科技創新合作區、橫琴粵澳深度合作區等。
國家發改委發布《粵港澳大灣區建設、長江三角洲區域一體化發展中央預算內投資專項管理辦法》（以下稱《辦法》）指出，為落實《粵港澳大灣區發展規劃綱要》，更好發揮中央預算內投資作用，發改委依據相關政府投資法規制定該《辦法》，即日起施行，有效期5年。
涵廣東省9市
根據《辦法》，專項資金將支持範圍包括廣州、深圳、珠海、佛山、惠州、東莞、中山、江門、肇慶等9市，優先支持河套深港科技創新合作區、橫琴粵澳深度合作區等。主要支持方向包括港澳元素較為突出的科技創新平台、由政府投資的非盈利港澳青年創新創業平台、內地與港澳合作辦學的高等院校、連接內地與港澳的基礎設施互聯互通工程及其主要配套工程，以及對大灣區建設具標誌或重大意義的其他領域項目。同時，在具備條件、符合要求前提下，專項資金將優先支持列入粵港澳大灣區建設中長期規劃方案及年度工作安排的項目。
具體資金安排方面，專項資金將直接安排到項目。大灣區建設以「直接投資」方式支持地方政府投資項目；對長三角相應合條件政府投資項目，採取直接投資或資本金注入方式；對合條件企業投資項目，採取投資補助或貸款貼息方式。
有意獲得專項資金的項目單位需遞交項目資金申請報告。規定省級發展改革部門和具備省級項目管理權限的有關單位負責項目匯總申報，要求這些單位在粵港澳大灣區建設領導小組辦公室統籌下，及時將粵港澳大灣區建設中長期規劃方案及年度工作安排明確的項目，納入全國投資項目在線審批監管平台「國家重大建設項目庫」和「三年滾動（投資）計劃」，並按照年度中央預算內投資計劃申報要求，組織有關單位申報專項資金。
國家發改委審核申報項目後，將確定專項年度中央預算內投資計劃，按程序將年度投資計劃和績效目標下達項目匯總申報單位，由其再度下達至具體建設項目。
支持長三角1市3省
根據《辦法》，長三角一體化發展支持範圍包括上海、江蘇、浙江（含寧波市）及安徽，主要支持方向包括：有利於推動形成區域協調發展新格局、創新一體化發展體制機制、推進更高水平協同開放的基礎設施互聯互通、生態環境共保聯治、公共服務合作共享及科創平台項目建設。重點支持安徽省和省際合作園區、省際毗鄰區域建設。
田飛龍：使香港融入國家發展戰略大局
中央確立對推動粵港澳大灣區建設的支持範圍和方向。全國港澳研究會理事、內地學者田飛龍表示，粵港澳大灣區融合發展，對香港而言，是使香港融入國家發展戰略大局，使之搭乘國家新全球化列車再次走向世界。他解釋，在過去香港的國際化渠道是跟從英美體系建立，如今的主場則是與國家一起，揚帆再出航。
中共中央、國務院印發的《粵港澳大灣區發展規劃綱要》公布兩年多，國家發改委近日發布的有關規定，意味中央及地方將專設專項資金支持大灣區發展。在今年全國兩會期間，官媒《人民日報》海外版曾認為，港澳應主動對接「十四五」規劃，積極成為國內大循環的「參與者」和國內國際雙循環的「促成者」，與國家共同實現高質量發展，為保持港澳長期繁榮穩定提供堅實基礎。
指港人未做好準備 籲克服安定心態
對於促進粵港澳大灣區建設，田飛龍認為香港目前存在部分障礙，原因在於香港全社會未做好粵港澳大灣區融合發展的心理準備，意願與能力都稍顯欠缺。他說，香港人需根據世界大環境的改變而改換觀念，需克服歷史繁榮給予的安定心態，克服畏難心理，重拾「獅子山精神」。
資料來源：明報 (2021年4月20日)
5、中美繼續角力 隨時出現「兩帶兩路」
澳洲外長佩恩（Marise Payne）宣布，取消四項協議，其中兩項是維多利亞州與中國簽署的「一帶一路」諒解備忘錄和相關的框架協議。佩恩表示，這些協議與澳洲政策不符或者不利於國家的外交關係。澳洲去年十二月通過《外交關係法》（Foreign Relations Bill），賦予聯邦政府取消州和領地政府、地方議會以及公立大學與其他國家簽訂協議的權力。
佩恩強調，取消協議並非針對任何特定國家，也不是為了損害澳洲與任何國家的關係。中國外交部發言人汪文斌對此指出，澳方所謂不針對特定國家根本站不住腳，澳方近年來以模糊不清、毫無依據的所謂「不符合澳外交政策、不符合澳安全利益」為由，做了大量破壞中澳正常交流和合作、毒化兩國互信和民意氛圍的事。汪文斌斥責澳方的政治操弄和無理行徑完全違背中澳全面戰略夥伴關係精神，是在開歷史倒車，性質惡劣，對兩國的地方企業合作信心產生嚴重消極影響，也使澳方自身的形象和信譽嚴重受損。中國駐澳洲大使館發言人亦說，澳方此舉是針對中方的又一無理挑釁行徑，再次表明澳方對改善中澳關係毫無誠意，勢必對雙邊關係造成進一步損害，也必將搬起石頭砸自己的腳。
澳洲撕毀「一帶一路」協議，沒有詳細說明原因，但明眼人一看即穿，在中美兩國全方位角力的背景底下，澳洲政府終究要選邊站，總理莫里森（Scott Morrison）顯然已鐵起了心加入唯美國馬首是瞻的朋友圈共同「圍堵中國」。特別該注意的是，去年十二月通過《外交關係法》針對中國的意味相當濃厚，推出的時間正值中澳產生貿易摩擦，澳洲龍蝦、紅酒和煤炭進口中國市場受阻，聯邦政府為了確保「外交政策一致性」而立法，正正是為了取消地方政府的「一帶一路」協議而鋪路。
這邊廂，澳洲選邊站積極投向美國，那邊廂，美國國會參議院外交關係委員會以絕大比數表決通過《二○二一年戰略競爭法案》（Strategic Competition Act of 2021），目標擺明車馬抗衡中國，法案下一步將交由參議院全體會議表決，預料通過的機會十分高。
法案由民主黨籍外交關係委員會主席梅南德茲（Robert Menendez）與共和黨籍副主席里施（Jim Risch）共同提出，反映相關議題得到跨黨派同意，重點是整合美國所有資源推動印太戰略，回應中國在國際局勢中帶來的挑戰，內容包括協助美國企業撤出中國，提升美國與台灣的關係，促進香港民主和擴大新疆制裁等等。法案其中一項修正案來自共和黨參議員羅姆尼（Mitt Romney），要求禁止美國派出政府代表團參加二○二二年北京冬季奧運會，以示外交抵制，運動員參賽則不受影響。
汪文斌問道：「有關法案通篇拿中國說事，以中國為對手，難道美國發展的目的就是為了在競爭中打敗中國嗎？」他聲言，有關法案嚴重歪曲事實、顛倒黑白，大肆鼓吹美國開展全面對華戰略競爭，粗暴干涉中國內政，中方對此強烈不滿、堅決反對。
澳洲撕毀「一帶一路」協議，投向美國的取態會否影響其他國家，暫時未知，然而美國的戰略競爭法案似乎有意打造「印太版一帶一路」。法案引述國會意見認為，美方應啟動跟外國政府以及公民社會合作，鼓勵各國採行二十國集團（G20）大阪峰會推動的基礎建設發展標準，包括尊重建設所在國主權、反貪腐、法治人權與債務永續性等等。法案授權美國國務卿建立「基礎建設交易與協助網絡」（Infrastructure Transaction and Assistance Network）計劃，撥款七千五百萬美元經費，在印太區域推動發展具永續性、透明與高品質的基礎建設。
中美繼續角力下去的話，地球村隨時出現分庭抗禮的「兩帶兩路」。
資料來源：信報財經 (2021年4月23日)
6、YKK launches digital showroom
Zipper and fastening products manufacturer YKK has launched a digital showroom to better engage with customers, virtually, regardless of time or location……
Read More: https://www.just-style.com/news/ykk-launches-digital-showroom_id141210.aspx
Source: www.just-style.com (21 Apr 2021)
7、US drops Vietnam from currency manipulators list
The US treasury has dropped Vietnam from its list of currency manipulators, a move that could reassure that the US might not impose new tariffs, quotas or other restrictions on Vietnamese imports as part of its Section 301 investigation……
Read More: https://www.just-style.com/news/us-drops-vietnam-from-currency-manipulators-list_id141218.aspx
Source: www.just-style.com (20 Apr 2021)
8、Lululemon to launch resale program for 'like new' products
Dive Brief:
Just a week after Nike launched its footwear refurbishment program, Lululemon on Tuesday announced its first recommerce program, dubbed Lululemon Like New, set to debut in May. The program will start as a trade-in pilot in California and Texas and expand into a resale program in those areas by June.
To participate, consumers can turn in Lululemon products in "like new" condition to the company's stores in exchange for a Lululemon e-gift card. All the profits from the program will be reinvested in the company's other sustainability initiatives.
The initiative is launching side-by-side with an Earth Dye limited-edition collection that uses Earth-friendly dyes upcycled from the waste of oranges, beets and saw palmetto trees. Both are part of Lululemon's Be Planet pillar, which focuses on making products that are "better in every way for people and the planet," according to a release.
Dive Insight:
Like many others in the apparel space, Lululemon is realizing that there's demand for a secondhand market of its clothing. The program not only allows Lululemon to save its clothing from becoming waste but also gives consumers another way to buy from the brand, as refurbishment and resale programs often come with a cheaper price tag.
Trade-in products for Lululemon's program will be cleaned and resold, and those that don't meet the brand's standards will be recycled through Debrand, a textile recycling and reverse logistics company. According to Lululemon, buying used apparel from the program can save up to 50% of a product's carbon footprint and 310 grams of waste.
Like Nike, which launched its refurbishment program in 15 stores to begin with, Lululemon is also starting small in just two markets. As the company pilots the program this year, it will rely on customer feedback to decide how to scale going forward.
"Lululemon is actively working to help create a healthier future, and we are focused on meeting the goals detailed in our Impact Agenda, including making 100 percent of our products with sustainable materials and end-of-use solutions by 2030," Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald said in a statement.
The Earth Dye collection is another way the retailer is hoping to innovate sustainably. The dyes in the collection use less water, carbon and synthetic chemicals than conventional dyes. It comes after the launch of other sustainable material innovations, including solution-dyed nylon, recycled polyester and Forest Stewardship Council-certified rubber.
Lululemon is far from alone in trying to make its apparel more sustainable. In addition to its direct competitors, outdoors retailers have continued to innovate in the area, with REI earlier this month announcing it had doubled its online used gear sales. Sustainability has become something of an expectation from consumers, and resale programs have become an increasingly popular way to answer that demand.
Source: www.retaildive.com (20 Apr 2021)
9、Chaos Consumes Garment Supply Chain
The garment industry continues to be wracked with turmoil through a combination of escalating geopolitical tensions and the long-term fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ethiopia
Fewer than half of the 2,000 workers employed in Mekelle Industrial Park in the violence-ravaged northern Tigray region of Ethiopia, for instance, have returned to work since the government’s November military offensive devolved into a full-fledged humanitarian crisis that has killed thousands of people and sent tens of thousands of refugees fleeing into Sudan, labor-rights groups said. Eritrean forces have been helping Ethiopian troops fight Tigray’s former ruling party, creating a widespread pattern of human-rights abuses, including starvation and sexual violence, that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned as “ethnic cleansing” last month.
Garment and textile factories such as Almeda, DBL Garments and Sheba Leather, IndustriALL Global Union said, were looted and vandalized, placing thousands of jobs in an already pandemic-hit sector at risk if they’re not able to reopen and resume operations. The park already closed once because of the pandemic, it said, just before war broke out, and union organizations have been having trouble reaching their members and families. Homes, clinics, hospitals, schools, crop fields and grain stores have been ransacked and destroyed, leaving many in the region of more than 5 million without food, water, medicine or shelter. All this turmoil has crushed Tigray’s nascent ambitions of becoming a major apparel-sourcing destination, at least in the near term.
In one district south of the Tigrayan capital of Mekelle, where the industrial park is situated, up to 150 people recently starved to death, according to United Nations officials.
While Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said in March that it was willing to work with international human-rights experts to investigate allegations of abuses, there is little evidence such efforts are taking place.
“We call upon the government of Ethiopia to provide peace and security to the people and the workers of Tigray,” Valter Sanches, general secretary of IndustriALL Global Union, said in a statement. “It is important that the armed conflict is ended so that workers can go back to work without fear and that communities can go back to living in peace.”
Myanmar
In Myanmar, which continues to be inundated by bloodshed and chaos after a military coup in February ousted the Southeast Asia nation’s quasi-democratic civilian government, labor activist Myo Myo Aye was arrested Thursday after the Solidarity of Trade Unions in Myanmar leader was forcibly taken from her office in Yangon.
“Over the years, Myo Myo Aye has relentlessly worked to defend workers’ rights, freedom of association and freedom of expression in the country. Her arrest represents one more attack against human rights defenders and the democratic movement in Myanmar,” the Clean Clothes Campaign, the garment industry’s largest consortium of labor-rights groups and unions, said in a statement calling for her release, as well as those of other detainees, and the restoration of democracy.
“Since the military took over control in Myanmar…searches and raids against democratic leaders and rights activists have been escalating with a sweep of arrests,” it said. “Many labor leaders are now on the run or are hiding to protect themselves and their families.”
Cambodia
A cluster of Covid-19 cases has emerged in Cambodia, which imposed a two-week lockdown in the capital of Phnom Penh Thursday, after 788 garment workers and related employees across 36 factories were found to be infected with the contagion last week, according to the country’s Sub-Committee on Research and Monitoring of Suspected Covid-19. Nearly all the cases originated in Phnom Penh and its surrounding areas. Authorities fear another surge in cases once the quarantine ends and factories kick back into gear, the Khmer Times said, because garment workers typically live in cramped dormitories where the virus can easily gain purchase.
Cambodia started vaccinating its 500,000 workers earlier this month, though whether the rollout can outpace infection remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) urged brands and retailers not to punish its members if they cannot honor their delivery schedules due to the lockdown.
“The apparel, footwear and travel goods manufacturing sector is not considered essential sector that needs to stay open during the lockdown and thus we have to remain closed,” GMAC said in a statement Monday. “The lockdown is also causing disruptions to the logistics sector and we are unable to freely transport raw materials and/or finished goods.”
Because factories are not able to run as usual, “this may result in delay[s] in production as well as failure to meet previously agreed delivery schedules,” the organization added. “We would like to appeal for your understanding to facilitate and make arrangements to help accommodate this special situation. We urge all of you not to punish our members for this situation that is beyond our control.”
Bangladesh
Across the pond, at least one supplier is hitting out at Peacocks after the British fashion chain allegedly placed orders while the company was in administration before canceling them and offering to pay half of the agreed price.
“What Peacocks did with us is not fair or professional,” Anil Srivastava of Bangladeshi supplier KL Design, which claims it is owed $438,151 or products delivered last June, told The Sunday Times. Edinburgh Woollen Mill, whose chief operating officer Steve Simpson bought Peacocks out of administration earlier this month with the backing of a consortium of international investors, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Bangladesh suppliers have threatened to blacklist Edinburgh Woollen Mill before for the non-payment of orders placed before the pandemic.)
A Peacocks spokesman told The Sunday Times that it had “excellent” relations with the bulk of its 1,000-plus suppliers and that it was “deeply grateful to them, our landlords and other partners for helping us through these unprecedented hard times. We won’t forget their support.”
According to a new study, 3 percent of Bangladesh’s labor force have been rendered unemployed by the pandemic, creating an estimated 16.38 million “new poor.” Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the informal sector will face the highest number of job losses by the end of the year, noted the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies and the Centre for Policy Dialogue on Saturday. SMEs are expected to shed 66 percent in revenue during the pandemic, the report added.
Bangladesh officials announced Monday a one-week extension on the current lockdown, which has left many workers walking to work on foot or shelling out many times more than their usual fares due to the suspension of public transportation such as trains, buses and ferries.
“The restrictions will continue for one more week from Thursday,” Surath Kumar Sarker, the government’s chief information officer reporters. Factories can remain open if they follow health safety guidelines.
Source: www.sourcingjournal.com (19 Apr 2021)
10、Hong Kong facing critical moment in seizing Greater Bay Area opportunities, warns trading tycoon
Victor Fung tells the Post the economic stars are aligning in the region and the city cannot afford to miss the rebound
Hong Kong must also capitalise on its role as a link between the Bay Area and the Asia-Pacific free-trade deal to secure its future, he says
Hong Kong cannot afford to miss the opportunities offered by the Greater Bay Area development and must re-establish the city’s lost position as the business centre for overseas Chinese, leading businessman Victor Fung Kwok-king has told the Post.
The Fung Group chairman issued the warning on Wednesday, saying the financial hub needed to embrace the economic zone encompassing 70 million people across Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province and reconstruct its battered economy in a post-Covid-19 world.
“I have never seen such an optimistic set of forecasts by the International Monetary Fund [IMF] for the rest of this year,” the tycoon said. “I don’t think Hong Kong can afford to miss this rebound. [If it does], it will truly lag behind. Not only is it a window of opportunities for the [city’s] third transformation, we will become a strong force, and the leading force in this third transformation like we did in the first [in 1949] and second one [in 1970s].
“On the downside, if we miss this opportunity, we will have more serious problems,” Fung warned, referring to the possibility of the city sliding into even worse economic shape.
According to the IMF forecast, developing economies in Asia will enjoy 8.3 per cent growth this year from 2020 levels, led by China’s 8.1 per cent jump and India’s 11.5 per cent rise. Hong Kong’s gross domestic product is tipped to rebound by 4.3 per cent this year from the 6.1 per cent contraction in 2020- the worst on record.
Fung, whose privately held trading and supply chain management company traces its roots back to 1906, said Hong Kong needed to become more familiar with mainland China, the Bay Area and the region.
“We must focus outward, definitely we need to know mainland China, the Greater Bay Area, but it is not enough. We need to know the rest of the world and familiarise [ourselves] with our neighbours, for example, Asean,” he said, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations. “We need to re-establish our position as the centre for overseas Chinese.”
Fung also chairs the 2022 Foundation think tank, which released a 65-page study earlier this month on Hong Kong’s positioning in the Bay Area and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership [RCEP], the world’s biggest free-trade deal covering 15 nations in Asia-Pacific. The city could take up the role as the hub and “digital control tower” for new trade and investment flows, while also cementing its status as an aviation centre, the research said.
Hong Kong should also capitalise on its strength in basic research, Fung urged, noting the city had several universities ranked among the best in the world. That would fill a critical missing piece in the industrialised Pearl River Delta, which was strong in applying and commercialising technologies, he argued.
“Hong Kong can serve as a location for small digitalised factories, producing a small number of products within a short period of time before testing consumer feedback across the border,” he said.
Fung said Hong Kong’s link with the Bay Area was the first step the city could take in galvanising the RCEP, which covered China, Asean, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea – almost one-third of the world’s population and about a third of its GDP.
The realisation of the RCEP would also pave the way for reconstructing the world’s multinational trade system, the World Trade Organization.
“Hong Kong must get into [the] RCEP,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and several senior officials are due on Thursday to meet with Chinese counterparts in Guangzhou for talks on the Greater Bay Area development.
Source: www.scmp.com (22 Apr 2021)