HONG KONG, June 18 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has stepped up efforts to stimulate local consumption and help out local businesses struggling amid the COVID-19 epidemic.
The government announced Thursday that it will double the cash incentives for travel agents to organize green lifestyle local tours in an effort to revive local tourism and related sectors, including catering and transport.
Starting Friday, the cash incentive per tourist served by a travel agent will be increased from the original 100 Hong Kong dollars (about 12.9 U.S. dollars) to 200 Hong Kong dollars, and the quota of tourists for each travel agent to apply for cash incentive will also be improved from the original 500 to 1,000.
With the epidemic subsiding locally, the government will relax the social distancing measures, including allowing group gatherings no more than 50, which will offer a great opportunity to relaunch local tourism activities, Edward Yau, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR government, said.
Yau expects the measure will improve the maximum cash incentives to each travel agent from 50,000 Hong Kong dollars to 200,000 Hong Kong dollars.
The HKSAR government on Thursday also started to distribute the first batch of subsidies to laundry shops and workshops, with subsidies for each of them ranging from 10,000 Hong Kong dollars to 150,000 Hong Kong dollars depending on the size of the operation.
Financial Secretary of the HKSAR government Paul Chan on Thursday expressed support for a voluntary discount scheme announced by representatives of Hong Kong's catering sector.
Participating restaurants will offer a 30-percent discount to diners after 6:00 p.m. from July 15 to the end of the month and a 20-percent discount in August, said Cheung Yu-yan, a member of the HKSAR Legislative Council representing the catering functional constituencies, predicting more than 1,000 restaurants to join the scheme.
As Hong Kong permanent residents are expected to receive cash handouts of 10,000 Hong Kong dollars by the government as early as July 8, Chan called on residents to go shopping and dining after receiving the handouts to stimulate local consumption. (1 U.S. dollar equals 7.75 Hong Kong dollars) Enditem
