Involving small and medium-sized enterprises, trade, and the silver economy! Qiu Yinghua's latest interpretation of the fiscal budget

On February 28, the Commissioner for Economic and Commerce of Hong Kong, Edward Yau Tang-wah, gave a brief introduction on the key measures related to the scope of the Hong Kong Economic and Commerce Commission in the 2025-2026 Budget, divided into five major aspects: supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, promoting trade, establishing a cross-border supply chain management center, promoting the silver economy, and advancing the development of the Belt and Road. Specifically, in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, Yau Tang-wah pointed out that in order to assist businesses in upgrading and transforming to cope with an increasingly complex business environment, the government will provide an additional HK$1.5 billion to the Brand Development, Upgrade and Transformation and Expand Domestic Sales Market Special Fund (BUD Special Fund and Market Promotion and Commerce and Industry Support Fund), and optimize the application arrangements. Along with the HK$1 billion injection announced in the 2024 Policy Address, a total injection of HK$2.5 billion indicates that the Hong Kong government continues to support small and medium-sized enterprises despite financial constraints. In terms of funding, to assist small and medium-sized enterprises in obtaining commercial loans, the Hong Kong government has been providing credit guarantees to businesses through the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme since 2012, and has been continuously introducing optimization measures, including increasing the maximum loan amount, extending the maximum guarantee period, and increasing the government's total guarantee burden. Last November, Hong Kong reintroduced the Interest Payment Only arrangement for a period of one year, allowing borrowing companies to apply for up to 12 months of interest-only repayment to meet their financing needs during an economic downturn. By the end of 2024, the scheme had approved over HK$288 billion in loans, benefiting nearly 65,000 companies and over 800,000 employees. To help small and medium-sized enterprises seize the huge opportunities brought by e-commerce and develop new quality productivity, the Hong Kong government will expand the BUD Special Fund - Easy E-commerce funding to cover the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year, and will continue to hold the Hong Kong Goodies Festival in August on Chinese mainland e-commerce platforms. In addition, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council will launch the "E-commerce Express" this year. The Hong Kong Trade and Industry Department will also strengthen support for the development of brands and expansion of e-commerce sales networks for small and medium-sized enterprises through the Business Mentorship Program, workshops, training, and other forms of assistance. Hong Kong plans to launch the above measures in the middle of this year. As for promoting trade, Yau Tang-wah stated that the Hong Kong government has been consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong's position as an international trade center through various measures. In terms of facilitating trade, the digitization of trade documents can reduce industry costs and facilitate international trade. Currently, most business-to-government (B2G) trade documents have been fully digitized, while for business-to-business (B2B) trade documents, the government will study facilitating the digitalization of trade documents through amendments to strengthen Hong Kong's advantages in international trade. Their goal is to submit legislative proposals for revisions to relevant legislation next year. In addition, in expanding economic and trade networks, Hong Kong is actively discussing with the governments of Malaysia and Saudi Arabia to open economic and trade office in Kuala Lumpur and Riyadh, respectively, to strengthen the connection between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and trading partners in the Middle East and ASEAN. Hong Kong is also in discussions with Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Peru to sign investment agreements, and is actively seeking early accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). In addition, the Hong Kong Trade and Investment Promotion Department and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council will continue to strengthen investment promotion and trade promotion work through consultant offices opened in emerging markets along the Belt and Road. Regarding the establishment of a cross-border supply chain management center, in response to the trend of some supply chains moving towards the Global South and countries along the Belt and Road, the Hong Kong government is actively building Hong Kong into a cross-border supply chain management center, attracting more mainland Chinese companies to Hong Kong with its leading professional services. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council and the Invest Hong Kong have established a cooperation mechanism at the end of last year to attract mainland Chinese companies to Hong Kong to establish international or regional headquarters for managing offshore trade and supply chains, and to assist these companies in going global through the overseas offices of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. In terms of the silver economy, Yau Tang-wah stated that in promoting silver consumption, Hong Kong is actively promoting the incorporation of elements of the silver economy into business, including enhancing the promotion of soft foods made according to the Careful Eating swallowing standard. Hong Kong is also in close contact with the exhibition industry to intensify efforts to showcase silver-related products and services at more comprehensive themed exhibitions such as food, home, tourism, arts, quality living, etc. Hong Kong is researching and introducing various measures with industry stakeholders and service providers to provide seniors with a more diverse range of consumption choices and strengthen the protection of their consumer rights. The Consumer Council has established a Silver Economy Advisory Group to supervise and promote the protection of the rights of older consumers, and the Hong Kong Consumer Council will gradually introduce measures later on. In addition, in promoting silver quality assurance, Hong Kong is actively discussing with industry stakeholders, including major certification bodies, to research and formulate standards or guidelines for elderly products and services, and promote their application to improve the quality of silver products and provide better choices for silver consumers. In terms of the Belt and Road Initiative, the Hong Kong government will continue to fully cooperate with the latest developments in the national high-quality construction of the Belt and Road, playing the role of Hong Kong as a functional platform for the Belt and Road. In September this year, Hong Kong will host the tenth Belt and Road Summit. The Hong Kong Trade and Industry Bureau will also support the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to continue to strengthen the connection with Belt and Road projects, especially focusing on new emerging areas such as green development and innovative technology, and enhancing the participation of Hong Kong's professional service industry in the Belt and Road projects.