Sevens can help kick us back to business

The revelation by Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po that he plans to leverage on the Hong Kong Sevens rugby event later this year to organize a major business forum to rebuild the Hong Kong brand is the kind of creativity that we have missed for some time.

Whether the idea was originated by Chan or someone else in his office, its successful implementation will open up opportunities to the city.

After more than two years of the Covid pandemic, this is probably what Hong Kong needs the most - to face the world and once again be part of the international community.

The Hong Kong Sevens event, now scheduled to take place in November, has been postponed a number of times because of periodic outbreaks coupled with one of the world's most stringent quarantine policies pursued by the government.

In particular, the city's quarantine policy has been subject to such controversy that business associations - both local and international - have had to voice their serious concerns.

Some high-profile multinational companies have relocated their senior executives to other cities, including Singapore, Tokyo and Dubai, to avoid the SAR's strict self-isolation policy.

Publicity could not have been more negative and it is essential to rebuild the SAR's badly battered image.

Although hope is high, it is not immediately known if Hong Kong's public image can be restored to its previous enviable level, or even higher, in view of the negative reports and sanctions currently in place.

Nonetheless, it is exactly because of the substantial challenges ahead that it is necessary to carve a public relations strategy that is more creative than before.

The Hong Kong Sevens is a hugely popular international sporting event.

In an interview with RTHK, Chan said he planned to invite 100 to 200 business leaders from around the world to watch the Rugby action. Once they are here, a lot can be arranged to facilitate exchanges.

Perhaps most crucially of all is that these business leaders can see for themselves, first hand, the Hong Kong of today. Most likely, a stop in the Greater Bat Area would be added to the itinerary too.

It follows that, once confidence is restored, anything could be possible.

The financial secretary's plan to leverage on the rugby event should only be the beginning of a series of campaigns aimed at rebuilding the city's brand.

As Chan spoke, a clear message could also be drawn from the interview that he was optimistic the pandemic situation would improve substantially in the second half of the year to allow life to return to normal - or close to normal- so as to make high-profile public relations promotions possible.

Yesterday, government health officials reported another drop in the number of new Covid cases.

Although the number was a conservative estimate, a declining trend seems to have been established following the peak of the Omicron wave.

Will local life return to normal, or nearly normal, in the second half? Fingers are crossed as hopes are raised.