NEW YEAR EDITION
香港及澳門澳洲商會
austcham news Issue 170, FEBRUARY 2015 www.austcham.com.hk
Hong Kong looks to Asia to fuel economic growth in 2015
T
he final months of 2014 were full of bad news in the financial media. Oil prices tumbled, the Russian Rouble collapsed and the European and Japanese economies were wobbling. Yet by mid-January 2015, when thousands of the world’s leading financial and economic experts arrived in Hong Kong for the Asian Financial Forum, the mood was turning. Speakers and panellists at the two-day event were generally upbeat about prospects for 2015, believing that the recovery underway in the US economy along with stable growth in China would drive global growth for the year. More importantly, many believed that economies in Asia had the brightest prospects in 2015. The views from the podium, however, contrasted with those in the audience. When audience members were polled, only 30 per cent reported being optimistic about the coming year while 23.5 per cent were pessimistic. A year earlier, only 10.8 per cent of respondents reported feeling pessimistic. The top threats to growth identified in the audience were: volatility created by diverging central
bank monetary policies; increasing geopolitical tensions; collapsing energy and commodity prices; and a hard landing of the Chinese economy.
“More economic dividends are expected from the Mainland’s ongoing reforms and many of our emerging neighbours are likely to see further growth,” he said.
In his opening address to the forum, Hong Kong Chief Executive C. Y. Leung said that even though much of the developed world was still dealing with the fall out from the 2008 global financial crisis, Asia’s dynamic emerging markets would provide excellent growth opportunities in 2015.
“Such trends will continue to bring massive opportunity for Asian business.” Leung said he would try to capitalise on Asia’s rise by building even stronger ties with regional economic partners.
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