Addressing the 19th Annual General Meeting of Hong Kong Retail Management Association, Tang said that easy market entry is one factor that contributes to the vibrancy of the industry and the SAR government is sparing no efforts to cut red tapes and streamline procedures with a view to providing an even more business-friendly environment.

The retail industry in Hong Kong is characterized by a large number of players of all sizes. It employs over 260,000 people or around 8 percent of the total employed population in 2001. It is heavily dependent upon domestic consumption as well as tourists spending.

Tang said that the Business Advisory Group chaired by the financial secretary has been taking active steps to eliminate over-regulation, reduce cost of compliance and improve services to the business community.

The SAR government is committed to providing a pro-business environment and maintaining a level playing field so that different businesses, big or small, can compete on equal footing and flourish, he said.

Last year, the government launched four funding schemes to address SMEs' concerns about financing, human resource development and market development. Many retailers who are SMEs have benefited from these support measures.

Tang pointed out that tourist spending is an important source of revenue for retailers in Hong Kong especially in the face of the current sluggish local consumer market.

In 2001, Hong Kong had 13.7 million visitors. The total tourism receipts exceeded 64 billion HK dollars (US$8.2 billion).

"We have been doing a lot in facilitating inflow of tourists, especially those from the mainland because they constitute a very important target market for our retailers," he said.

The abolition of the quota system for the Hong Kong Group Tour scheme and the extension of the multi-business visit endorsement schemes have helped boost the number of mainland visitors, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2002)