Hong Kong's central bank chief is luring global financiers to the city's November confab, but they're unlikely to agree without quarantine waivers. That risks local ire. But to stay relevant, Hong Kong has little choice, says ywchen1
. But Hong Kong’s enduring quarantine rules are a major turn-off. Visitors must spend three days in hotel quarantine, then four days of so-called medical surveillance and frequent testing.boss Jamie Dimon visited in November without having to quarantine. Replicating that waiver for a hundred of his peers, though, may not please local residents who still face restrictions. Financiers are already privately warning they won’t come if the concessions are too generous.
That’s an awkward trade-off for Lee’s new administration. But he might not have much choice. Singapore is stealing Hong Kong’s limelight, with at least five regional conferences on topics from private equity to technology scheduled for September alone. It has no quarantine and has dispensed with most compulsory mask-wearing, bringing it closer to what Western financiers are used to at home.
Hong Kong therefore faces more pressure to show it’s open for business. If Lee is lucky, Covid cases will fall enough that he can end quarantine for everyone. If not, a special deal for the fortunate few may be the least bad option.Hong Kong is targeting an end to Covid-19 hotel quarantine in November, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 1 citing unnamed sources. The city is planning a two-day summit for global financial executives starting on Nov.
Eddie Yue Wai-man, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, has personally invited more than 100 of the world’s top bankers, fund managers and financial executives to the summit, the South China Morning Post reported in June citing sources familiar with the plan.Editing by John Foley and Thomas Shum