'Substantial effort in pooling talents needed in HK Budget 2023', say HK adland leaders

Hong Kong’s finance chief Paul Chan has laid out the upcoming financial plan for the public and businesses in the latest Budget 2023, including investing heavily on artificial intelligence and innovation and technology development, as well as introducing new initiatives to attract talents and boost local economy as the city enters the post-pandemic era. 

The city's leader John Lee welcomes the latest Budget and has called on the public for support, saying that the initiatives reflect the vision of his cabinet and will keep Hong Kong's recovery on track. “It has a well-balanced range of proposals that provide timely relief for individuals and businesses during these challenging economic times. I am confident that this will help to restore and consolidate our position as a world-leading destination for investment, enterprises, talent and tourism,” Lee said.

Love it or hate it, the measures laid out in the latest financial plan certainly benefit a number of sectors in Hong Kong including the advertising industry and marketing community. Let's take a look at what some of the adland leaders MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out to think about the latest Budget. 

Don't miss: 6 key takeaways for the HK marketing community from Budget 2023

Ivan Leung, general manager, Aloha Group

I am confident that the initiatives set out are made in good faith to help with talent gap issue and to nurture the technology sector. But in all honesty, I will take a “wait and see” approach to the application of these policies.

Short lived initiatives such as tax reduction, rental subsidies and guarantee schemes will be felt immediately but the impact is not sustainable.

On the other hand, core initiatives involving attracting talent and supporting tech startups, which I feel are critical for Hong Kong’s growth, are still very hazy in terms of application.

If applied properly, it could be a pivotal step to enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness in the global economy. However, if there are many roadblocks and hoops to jump through for talent to pursue a career in Hong Kong or for enterprises to get investment support, these well-intended initiatives could at the end lead to “the rich gets richer” type of scenario which would be disappointing to see.

Initiatives need to avoid only focusing on attracting investment on the top percentile, but also to assist existing players who have shown initial success to further scale in its competency. I trust we need to emphasise a diversification of growth for Hong Kong to thrive.

I remain optimistic and applaud the government for taking steps as it shows a commitment to the local enterprise. At the same time, I remain cautious on the potential impact as it really drills down the execution of these schemes.

Simone Tam, CEO, Dentsu Hong Kong

The government’s commitment in driving a series of activities that aim to boost domestic consumption and tourists’ spendings while in Hong Kong will help to elevate marketers’ confidence level in advertising investment.  Naturally this is good news for the industry.

Substantial effort in pooling talents and nurturing talents in Hong Kong perhaps is what’s most needed for us in Hong Kong. The government’s recognition of the huge potential of Web3 to me was pleasantly surprising.

Terry Tsang, director, Narrow Door

Overall I think the budget report has demonstrated a huge ambition for government to bring Hong Kong back to its glorious past, but it lacks the boldness and sharpness to make a turn-over. A lot of measures are quite remedial. In particular, I am not optimistic to see the effort in retaining local talents and attracts foreign talents.

In the advertising industry, quite a number of professionals have already emigrated or changed field due to shrinking budget over the past three years. Property market has been undergoing a big set back recently. I have been talking to clients recently on the retail market and there is an interesting observation. Tourists from China are not interested to go to Hong Kong Island side anymore. They rather would visit the new attraction spots in Tsim Sha Tsui area.

It all boils down to one eternal truth: What’s our edge? Can Hong Kong offer something new and competitive?

We cannot afford to repeat ourselves and let our past success model to guide us into the future. We must strive to breakthrough and lead instead of old tactics and strategies.

Jeffrey Hau, co-founder & CEO, PRIZM Group Hong Kong

The investment into Web3 and also tech startup caught my eyes. It is probably not just the money that will be injected, but it is also the attention from the government and most crucially the introduction of new guidelines that regulate this space.

Of course any of us as a consumer will welcome the release of a new round of spending voucher, and it definitely will fuel the sentiment in the city, however, I am skeptical whether it will be able to act as a stimulation to additional spending for the retail market, especially when the border has opened and many are saving for their travel. So the budget that is allocated for the new wave of campaign to welcome travellers might be the answer to at least some of the businesses.

In the recent years, I will say the shortage of talents entering the ad and martech industry is more of a headache than the concerning economy.

In my opinion, attracting talents from overseas is important, but that cannot substitute with home grown talents nurtured locally.

Communication and comprehension of local knowledge are utterly important. I believe the news and PR of setting up research labs and incubators will surely uplift the “coolness” of the tech field and attract more of our youngsters to join the force.

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