CPA Australia<\/a>‘s 2020-21 Asia-Pacific Small Business
\nSurvey,\u00a0published today. The survey canvasses the views of 4,227 small
\nbusinesses in 11 markets across the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia,
\nMainland China, Malaysia and Vietnam to understand their business strategies
\nand outlook. Three hundred and six Hong Kong small businesses took part.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/release.media-outreach.com\/release.php\/Images\/Thumb\/500x0\/134197\/CPA-2-en.jpg#image-134197\")
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\n
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“For two
\nconsecutive years, expectations of business growth among Hong Kong small
\nbusinesses have been the lowest of the surveyed markets. 53 per cent of
\nrespondents identified COVID-19 as having had a major negative impact on their
\nbusiness operations in 2020, and 65 per cent of them expect to need one year or
\nmore to recover.” said Mr. Janssen Chan, CPA Australia’s Greater China
\nDivisional President 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n
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When asked what
\nmajor actions businesses took in response to\u00a0COVID-19, small businesses in
\nHong Kong were most likely to have sought government support and subsidies (33
\nper cent), reduced capital expenditure (32 per cent), and reduced staff numbers
\n\/ costs (22 per cent).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
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\n
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“The relief
\nmeasures announced by the SAR Government supported small businesses to combat
\nthe worst of the pandemic. According to the survey, 44 per cent of respondents
\nsought external funds for business survival. Using government grants as the
\nmain source of external finance jumped from 9 per cent in 2019 to a record high
\nof 33 per cent last year,” Chan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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As a response to
\nCOVID-19 last year, beginning or increasing the focus on online sales was one
\nof the key actions taken by small businesses in many of the markets
\nsurveyed.\u00a0However, only 17 per cent of Hong Kong respondents took action
\nto begin or increase online sales, which is lower than the survey average of 25
\nper cent. Although 57 per cent of Hong Kong respondents received more than 10
\nper cent of their sales through digital payment options, this is lower than the
\nsurvey average of 64 per cent and significantly behind leader Mainland China
\n(91 per cent).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n
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“The issuing of electronic consumption vouchers, announced
\nin the Hong Kong Budget, is an excellent opportunity for small businesses to
\ntake advantage of digital payment and e-commerce. In light of the
\noverwhelming response to the Distance Business Programme, we suggest that the
\ngovernment consider re-opening applications to the Programme to continue
\ndriving the digitalisation and technology adoption of small businesses.” Chan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
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\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Small business
\nconfidence in Hong Kong remains subdued. Only 21 per cent of respondents expect
\ntheir business to grow in 2021, compared to the survey average of 61 per cent.
\nThis weak outlook is reflected in the cautious approach Hong Kong small businesses’
\nlow intention of increasing their headcounts. Only 12 per cent of respondents
\nexpect to increase staff in 2021, compared to the survey average of 36 per
\ncent. <\/p>\n
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\n
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Hong Kong small
\nbusinesses are also less inclined to innovate, with only 8.5 per cent of
\nrespondents stating they will introduce new products or services in 2021,
\ncompared to the survey average of 23 per cent.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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“While business innovation may involve
\nadditional expenditure in the short term, small businesses in Hong Kong should
\nbe more proactive in reassessing their resource allocation and consider
\ninnovating through the adoption of technology. This could enhance their
\nlong-term competitiveness and help them keep pace with their peers in other
\nAsia-Pacific economies,” Chan said.<\/p>\n
\n
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\n
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CPA Australia
\nrecommends Hong Kong small businesses consider the following measures:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n- consult a trusted professional
\n adviser to improve recovery prospects.<\/li>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
- seek
\n government financial support where appropriate to your circumstances, such
\n as the Special 100% Loan Guarantee under the SME Financing Guarantee
\n Scheme\u00a0and the Pre-approved Principal Payment Holiday Scheme.\u00a0<\/li>\n
<\/p>\n
- manage cashflow and debt closely
\n paying attention to the cost of external financing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
<\/p>\n
- leverage government support
\n schemes to increase the adoption of technology.<\/li>\n
<\/p>\n
- identify,
\n invest in and adopt new technologies to keep innovating.\u00a0 <\/li>\n
<\/p>\n
- explore opportunities to diversify
\n and expand into\u00a0new markets, especially to cities in Mainland China
\n and ASEAN countries.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
\n<\/ul>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hong Kong
small businesses register lowest confidence on record in CPA Australia
survey.
Seeking
government support most common action in response to COVID-19.\u00a0
Only 8.5 per
cent of Hong Kong small businesses will innovate in 2021.\u00a0
HONG KONG SAR –\u00a0Media
OutReach\u00a0– 22 March 2021 –\u00a0Amid the prolonged impact of COVID-19
and a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13369"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/release.media-outreach.com\/release.php\/Images\/Thumb\/500x0\/134190\/CPA-1-en.jpg#image-134190\")
<\/p>\n