Hong Kong, China – Simon Friend, 35, was working from home in Amsterdam last month when he heard whispers that Hong Kong would finally reopen to the world.
Friend, a fan of the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, the city’s biggest sporting event, was eager to book a flight.
The tournament, which takes place from November 4-6, comes for the first time in two years after Hong Kong lifted some of the world’s strictest COVID-19 restrictions, including mandatory hotel quarantine for arrivals.
“It will be my 25th Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, you can say I’m a huge fan,” Friend told Al Jazeera.
“I haven’t seen friends and family there for two years. No quarantine at the hotel and being able to attend the Sevens was a no-brainer for me. A win-win.
“The Sevens is by far the best party of the year in Hong Kong, every year,” he added. “It’s the best reason to have a few drinks and dress up and party.”
Hong Kong’s government hopes the sporting event, along with a high-profile international banking summit that kicked off on Tuesday, will signal the city is open for business amid fears for its status as an international financial hub.
Still, visitors to the city will have to endure restrictions long abandoned elsewhere, including multiple COVID tests, mask mandates and a three-day surveillance period during which places such as restaurants and bars are banned.
Those who come will find a city in recession, its economy battered by the double whammy of severe pandemic curbs and a sweeping Beijing-led crackdown on dissent.
Hong Kong’s retail and tourism sectors were already reeling from pro-democracy protests in 2019 when the government’s harsh response to COVID-19 plunged the city into its second recession in three years.
Hong Kong’s “dynamic zero COVID” policies, including hotel quarantines, have severely disrupted business operations in the city, triggering a record exodus of skilled professionals from the city.
Financial firms like Citigroup have relocated some key employees and functions out of Hong Kong, while US fashion giant VF Corp and French IT services company Capgemini have moved their regional headquarters to Singapore.
‘Devastating’
Established in 1976, the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens was by far the city’s biggest sporting event before the pandemic, attracting tens of thousands of visitors from around the world.
For the Hong Kong Rugby Union, which depends on the Sevens for 95% of its annual revenue, the return of the tournament is nothing less than a matter of survival.
“The past three years have been devastating for the Union and the rugby community,” Hong Kong Rugby Union CEO Robbie McRobbie told Al Jazeera.
“Without a tournament since 2019, we have accumulated over HK$250 million [$31.8m] losses that led to half of our staff losing their jobs.
McRobbie said the competition is an important signal that the city is “bounce back” and open for business.
“Normally we only sell 20,000 tickets locally, but we’ve already sold around 26,000 so we’re already ahead of that – we’re pleased with domestic demand and very grateful for the continued support from the local community,” did he declare.
Still, McRobbie said the restrictions – including testing and mask-wearing requirements at the event itself – would keep international visitors, who typically make up around half of the 40,000 spectators, away.
“Our fans like to enjoy Hong Kong nightlife when they come to town,” he said.
Allan Zeman, a real estate tycoon known as the godfather of Lan Kwai Fong’s party district, said the end of the quarantine, while “a breath of fresh air”, was not enough to bring back visitors to Hong Kong.
“Tourists are certainly the last piece of the puzzle for Hong Kong, but they won’t be coming back in numbers under the ‘0+3’ restrictions,” Zeman told Al Jazeera, referring to the three-day surveillance period for tourists. arrivals which prohibits from places such as restaurants and bars.
Zeman, who is also a government adviser, thinks Hong Kong leader John Lee may have strayed to the conservative side due to the recent Communist Party congress in China.
“No one wanted to take the risk of upsetting [Beijing] this week,” Zeman said.
“I think the government here decided it was not the right time to go for ‘0+0’, that ‘0+3’ was already all they could push for now.”
Banking and other financial executives attending the Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit, the banking summit taking place November 1-3, will get a reprieve from restrictions faced by other travellers.
In a statement, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the host of the Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit, said government-approved “infection control arrangements” would be in place to provide the “necessary facilitation” for participants to participate in the summit and conduct business activities. HKMA stressed the importance of the event being held in person to allow guests to meet staff and customers and build relationships.
With the exception of JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon, who received a controversial exemption from city quarantine rules at the height of the pandemic, the summit will mark the first time some of Wall Street’s biggest names have landed. in the financial center. since the start of the pandemic.
Zeman, who will attend the summit, said the event was a “vote of confidence for Hong Kong”.
“These institutions,” Zeman said, “have always viewed Hong Kong as their headquarters for Asia.”
Zeman said Hong Kong’s position as a gateway between East and West makes it an ideal location for such an event.
“China is too big and too important a market for any bank in the world to turn its back on,” he said.
Others are less optimistic.
Martin Young, a professor at Massey University in New Zealand who chairs the Asian Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee, said the partial reopening of Hong Kong will not be enough to revive the economy this year.
“It’s important for [Hong Kong] to open as quickly as possible,” Young told Al Jazeera. “The removal of all COVID pandemic measures will certainly have a positive impact on domestic consumption and visitor spending, but that’s only part of the problem Hong Kong is facing.”
As economic woes deepen and calls for an end to all restrictions grow louder, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee has introduced measures to attract talent and investment , including a HK$30 billion ($3.8 billion) fund to support businesses in the city.
Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis, said such announcements, while welcome, are stopgap measures.
“It will be less costly for government and society with a fully reopened business environment,” Ng told Al Jazeera.
“With another year of budget deficits, the Hong Kong government probably cannot afford more spending and will have fewer resources to deploy on long-term issues if growth does not rebound.”
Investor confidence in the city’s ability to weather the crisis has declined. Reports of a slowing Chinese economy and delayed economic data last week sent the Hang Seng index falling to 15,180, its lowest since the 2009 financial crisis.
Ng said the government was responsible for “80% of the recession risk it faces”.
“Although the government cannot control policy in mainland China, it has the ability to adjust its approach by removing all COVID-related restrictions.”
Young said the city should fully transition to life with the virus like the rest of the world, including rival Singapore, which last month overtook Hong Kong’s place as Asia’s top financial hub on the world financial index 2022.
“Could Hong Kong have handled COVID better? It’s much easier to determine best practice in hindsight, but if there was one place that could be said to be the best, I’d give it to Singapore,” Young said.
“In my view, now is the time for Hong Kong to follow Singapore’s example in the fight against COVID.”
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