Attn: News / Business Editors

August 27, 2006

Air pollution is making Hong Kong less attractive to foreign investors, and four out of five business leaders know of professionals who are thinking of leaving or have already left, according to a recent survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
Respondents consist of 140 top executives from among AmCham’s member companies, which collectively employ some 250,000 people in Hong Kong. The results have been published in full in the August issue of the Chamber’s magazine, AmCham, to be released tomorrow (Monday). (Click here for the survey report.)
The survey gets beyond the many anecdotes of expatriate departures and puts objective numbers on the very serious business outcomes that may result if more is not done sooner about cleaning Hong Kong’s air, said AmCham Chairman Steve Marcopoto.
Results also showed that an alarming 95 percent of respondents were personally worried, or very worried, about the air quality in Hong Kong and the potential long term effects on the health of themselves and their children.
A fair proportion of companies (39%) have experienced difficulties in recruiting professionals to come to work in the territory.
More than half (55%) of respondents personally knew of professionals who have declined to come because of the quality of Hong Kong’s natural environment.
In fact, “quality of natural environment” topped a list of seven factors in terms of importance when selecting a place to live. A total of 94 percent ranked it as either the most important or the second most important factor.
Seventy-nine percent of respondents felt Hong Kong’s level of attractiveness to foreign investors is decreasing.
Fifty-nine percent thought the current trend and changes in Hong Kong’s environmental quality over time might eventually cause their companies to invest more money elsewhere.
On the other hand, if Hong Kong had a cleaner environment and better air quality, 56 percent believed their companies would invest more money in Hong Kong rather than other parts of Asia.
The survey, commissioned by AmCham and conducted by A.C. Nielsen with sponsorship from six member companies, is aimed at determining member companies’ views on the impact of the current environment’s quality upon investment and human resources plans in Hong Kong.
It consisted of an online self-administered questionnaire sent to 616 AmCham member company representatives in Hong Kong. A total of 140 completed questionnaires were collected between June 19 and 30, representing a response rate of 23 percent.
The survey is an AmCham initiative that followed up Chairman Marcopoto’s call for action in his January inaugural speech.
Commenting on the survey results, Marcopoto said, “We cannot rely on favorable winds to clean our air. Initiatives from the business community are imperative and this study is intended to give us all cause to pause and see which way the economic winds will blow if we do not fully support and call to account Hong Kong and Guangdong government authorities in efforts to make breathing in Hong Kong safe again.
“The quality of the air in Hong Kong is leading senior business people to make investment and personal choices that are not consistent with the long term competitiveness of Hong Kong. They are saying that the pace of positive change needs to increase,” he said.
The chair of AmCham’s Environment Committee, Alan Seigrist, said, “This survey reinforces AmCham’s concern that air pollution not only threatens our health, but Hong Kong’s preeminent position as the financial services capital of Asia. This is especially true when many leaders in financial services have young families – the main concern of being based in Hong Kong is their own children’s health.
“Service industries represent 90% of Hong Kong’s total annual GDP. It is clear from this survey that people who work in service industries don’t want to breathe dirty air. As a result, the current air pollution problem is a direct threat to the long term sustainability of Hong Kong’s vibrant service economy,” he added.
The six survey sponsors are: The Executive Centre, ExxonMobil, FedEx, Morgan Stanley, Time Warner and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Photos of Steve Marcopoto (at his January 18th inaugural luncheon) and Alan Seigrist are available for download at the links below:

Steve: photo 1, photo 2, photo 3
Alan: photo 1, photo 2

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