Lee confident SAR summit won't be upstaged by Lion City event

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu says he is confident Hong Kong will successfully hold a financial summit for global bankers in November, despite indecision over whether hotel quarantine can be scrapped for overseas arrivals.

At his weekly press briefing before the Executive Council meeting yesterday, Lee was asked whether he is worried that the event will be affected by Singapore's Fintech Festival, set at almost the same period and with more than 60,000 people expected.

He said Hong Kong still has a strong competitive edge against its rivals and dismissed worries that the Lion City event from November 2 to 4 might outperform the finance summit set for November 1 and 2. More than 100 finance and banking heavyweights have been invited to the summit.

Hong Kong is hosting its own fintech week from October 31 to November 4.

"Hong Kong's competitive edge is still here and it remains strong," Lee said.

"The government is in communication with the relevant industries and we know that many people have expressed interest in attending the summit."

But any decision on whether arrivals will still need to undergo three days of hotel quarantine plus four days of medical surveillance will be based on the pandemic situation closer to the date, he said.

"We need to make sure that we can protect our public health-care system and high-risk groups," Lee said. "Our epidemic situation might not be the same as that of other places, but we have our own anti-epidemic measures to implement," he added, referring to Singapore, which allowed fully vaccinated inbound travelers to skip quarantine from April and has let in those not fully vaccinated since last month.

Lee said the government will keep monitoring the situation and based on the actual situation then "decide on our infection control measures."

The two-day summit hosted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority aims to attract financial talent amid strict quarantine policies that have led to a brain drain in the city's financial industry.

The chief executive of Standard Chartered, Bill Winters, told Bloomberg he will attend the event even if attendees are required to undergo quarantine. HSBC chief executive Noel Quinn has also said he plans to attend the conference.

Meanwhile, the executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, Timothy Chui Ting-pong, said some quarantine hotels have turned down the invitation to take part in the next cycle of the scheme from November as they intend to focus on staycation business instead.

He said the number of inbound travelers has not increased even after the hotel quarantine period was cut from seven to three days and that some hotels will decide on whether they will continue to join the quarantine scheme based on commercial factors.

The latest list shows Panda hotel in Tsuen Wan set to drop out as a quarantine hotel on October 1, while the Bay Bridge Lifestyle Retreat, also in Tsuen Wan, and the Charterhouse Causeway Bay Hotel in Wan Chai, are exiting on October 2. The updated list show 62 designated quarantine hotels offering 23,600 rooms in the cycle until October 31. East Hong Kong in Taikoo Shing, originally designated for aircrews, will cater to overseas travelers from tomorrow.

A government spokesman said from November 1, travelers testing positive during quarantine will be allowed to remain in their hotels, instead of being sent to isolation facilities in Penny's Bay and Kai Tak.

Separately, Lee said unvaccinated mainlanders are allowed to enter vaccine pass premises, including restaurants, because China is among nations with the lowest Covid risks in the world.

His comments came after a Shenzhen resident had posted on social media that without any vaccination or exemption documents, she was issued a temporary vaccine pass effective for 180 days after arriving in Hong Kong through the Come2HK scheme.

The temporary vaccine pass generated a blue code for her, granting her access to all premises including dine-in at restaurants and bars, which yellow code holders are barred from entering.

The woman said on a mainland social media platform: "I thought my Disneyland plan cannot come true, but now I can go. Yeah."

Asked about the double standards, Lee said the policy not requiring mainland travelers in Hong Kong to be vaccinated has been in place for a long time. And Hong Kong has not reported any imported cases from mainland travelers so far.

But infectious disease expert Ho Pak-leung called for authorities to also require people with temporary vaccine pass to get jabbed to minimize community transmission and avoid adding a burden to the public medical system.

cjames.lee@singtaonewscorp.com

jane.cheung@singtaonewscorp.com