J. ALBERT GAMBOA l August 1, 2023 l Manila Bulletin
HONG KONG – Five months after the full reopening of its border with the People’s Republic of China, this former British Crown Colony is back in business. The International Monetary Fund recently issued a statement that the Hong Kong special administrative region (HKSAR) is recovering strongly, with post-COVID normalization of economic activity despite a challenging global macro-financial environment.
In March 2023, the HKSAR welcomed more than two million visitors for the first time since the start of the pandemic. According to a local travel executive, there was an influx of tourists from the Philippines and Thailand in the second quarter. The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) expects bright prospects for recovery with an estimated 26 million visitors for the entire 2023.
A group of Filipino journalists can validate the HKTB’s forecast after visiting Hong Kong last month as part of their prizes for winning the 15th Bright Leaf Journalism Awards. Winners of the 2021-2022 edition include Manila Bulletin’s Vina Medenilla.
The Bright Leaf Awards are given annually by PMFTC Inc., a business combination between Philip Morris International and Fortune Tobacco Corp. They honor the most outstanding agricultural stories and images in print, broadcast, and online media. Agriculture is front and center at this annual recognition of journalists who focus on crop sustainability, safety issues, and best practices.
Hong Kong’s agricultural industry still exists despite its limited land area. Vegetable and flower production account for the bulk of the industry’s total value, while piggeries and poultry farms also abound here. Last February, Hong Kong experienced an outbreak of the African swine fever (ASF) near the Mainland Chinese border. This was the fourth time that the virus was reported in the HKSAR since 2019.
As of fiscal year 2022, Hong Kong’s population decreased by 121,500 or roughly 1.6 percent from the year-ago level based on government data. This marked its third consecutive year of population decline and the biggest drop in the last six decades. Ever since a new national security law was passed in 2020 that curtailed the freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kongers dating back to British colonial times, the HKSAR has faced an exodus of residents and expats.
Singapore is the most popular place to relocate and has overtaken Hong Kong as Asia’s top financial center. Early this year, wealthy Hong Kong residents rushed to apply for Portuguese residency due to reports that Portugal’s “golden visa” program would be halted. The main reasons why many Hong Kongers wanted to reside in Portugal are its beautiful countryside and cuisine as well as the potential of its property market as housing prices surged.
PHILIPPINE-PORTUGUESE PARTNERSHIP
Last week, Portugal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Joao Gomes Cravinho made a historic trip to the Philippines to discuss the intensification of economic relations. He is the highest-ranking Portuguese official to ever visit the Philippines since 1946, holding scheduled meetings with Senate President Miguel Zubiri, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, and Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla.
Cravinho highlighted the potential for cooperation in the development of renewable or green energies and the maritime industries, otherwise known as the blue economy. He referred to renewables among the “industries of the future and an area in which all countries are seeking to achieve carbon neutrality.” Other issues that are deemed ripe for bilateral cooperation are defense, food security, and combatting ASF in the Philippines.
ASF has been wreaking havoc on our pork industry, with cases found in all regions of the country except Metro Manila. In fact, a Portuguese company has offered to lend its expertise to help Filipinos eliminate the highly contagious viral disease. This was disclosed by Portugal’s non-resident Ambassador to the Philippines, Maria Joao Lopes Cardoso, who relayed the offer to House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez last June. It may be noted that Portugal is one of only two European countries that have successfully eradicated ASF.
During his courtesy call on Zubiri, Cravinho was accompanied by Cardoso; Celia Anna Feria, Philippine Ambassador to Portugal; and Ramon Garcia Jr., Portugal’s Honorary Consul in Manila. “Portugal has to be more present in Southeast Asia and this is a particularly propitious moment for that,” Cravinho explained in reference to the entry of former Portuguese colony Timor-Leste to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Incidentally, the Philippines is the designated coordinator of relations between the ASEAN and the European Union, of which Portugal is a member-state.
*** J. Albert Gamboa is a Life Member of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) and Vice-Chair of the FINEX Ethics Committee. The opinion expressed herein does not necessarily reflect the views of these institutions and the Manila Bulletin. #FinexPhils www.finex.org.ph