Word: kong
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...Business owners may get some comfort on Oct. 15, when Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang is expected to detail the city's plan to deal with the economic crisis. Hong Kong's Monetary Authority has already said that it may use the city's $160 billion in foreign currency reserves to help shore up its financial sector...
...those are only short-term fixes. For export-oriented Asian economies, the specter of a protracted U.S. recession remains daunting. Tommy Lam, owner of a garment factory in Dongguan, a Chinese city near Hong Kong, says that he has already seen a reduction in demand. "We're not getting the repeat orders we're supposed to get," Lam says...
...credit crisis is hurting even small Hong Kong businesses, according to Danny Lau, chairman of the Hong Kong Small and Medium Enterprise Association. "Bankers are tightening loans," Lau says. "That will affect most small businesses. Some of them have loans from banks in order to run their operations. Now they will have to tighten up, or they will have to contract in the future." Last week, U-Right, a clothing retailer with about 100 outlets in Hong Kong and another 500 in China, was forced to liquidate after it could not meet bank demands to repay its debts. By Sunday...
...says that some small businesses have also been harmed by their investment in so-called "mini-bonds," complicated structured financial products marketed throughout the world by now-failed Lehman Brothers. Hong Kong banks allegedly sold investors the mini-bonds as a relatively low-risk alternative to fixed-income investments. When Lehman Brothers collapsed in mid-September, the derivatives lost much of their value. Companies that invested their deposits in them now find themselves unable to cover the difference, Lau says...
...economic crisis tightens the screws on the city, both individual investors and Hong Kong businesses are appealing to the government for help. Pensioners who invested in Lehman mini-bonds have staged a series of protests during the last three weeks. And on Sunday, a group of business owners, organized by Hong Kong's pro-business Liberal Party, appealed to the government to increase loans for small businesses to cover short-term operational costs. "In Korea, Japan, even Singapore, they have lots of support from the government if you're running a new business. They'll back you up," says...