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Dear Member, Many of you were among almost 200 members who, in a short 48 hour period, sent in your ideas on what the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce should say to the government on how it can help the business community survive the devastating problems brought about by SARS. What we hear from you is that the impact is universal, and is deep in some places. What is worst is that not only are we not seeing an end to this crisis soon, the lingering effect could be substantial and long lasting. Based on these inputs, the staff of the HKGCC first went through each of your ideas thoroughly, then we compiled a list for the Chairman’s Committee consideration. The Chairman’s Committee had a two-hour discussion poring over each one of the ideas on this list and made its recommendation to the General Committee. After thorough deliberation, the General Committee approved the final list which was submitted on April 16 to the Chief Executive, Mr. C H Tung. Please see www.chamber.org.hk/memberarea/chamber_view/policy_statements.asp. There were some common comments, with both the care about Hong Kong and the anguish about your business coming through loud and clear. Of course there were differing views on what should be done. After all this deliberation, the Chamber continues to believe that tackling the budget deficit is still the long-term priority for Hong Kong; therefore, we did not ask for changing in any significant way the revenue stream identified by the Financial Secretary. We also did not ask for a suspension or reduction of MPF since we feel this is a system for the good of Hong Kong employees in the long run and should not be tampered with. However, we recognize that this is an unusual time which calls for unusual measures, hence we offered several suggestions to the government that will alleviate the pain of many businesses, especially SMEs. All the submissions wanted the government to play a key role in boosting confidence in Hong Kong. Confidence does not mean downplaying the seriousness of the disease, but in communicating to the people of Hong Kong and the world in a transparent, coordinated, authoritative way that “we know what we are doing” in combating this terrible disease. Finally, a set of mid- and long-range initiatives was also forwarded. Though it is too early to implement them, it is not too early to start thinking about that, to prepare for that day when light appears at the end of the tunnel and we need to revive Hong Kong to its deserved greatness as quickly as possible. For those that sent inputs, thank you very much for taking time last week to give us your input. Let me apologize up front if the Chamber ended up not adopting all your suggestions, but please understand that we tried to balance a number of factors when coming up with the final list of recommendations to the government. But I think you can see that this is quite a comprehensive list, and we have conveyed to the government the sense of urgency that we all feel. This is going to be a long battle, and we will be working with you every step of the way. The Chamber has also looked through its own services to members and has come up with a number of discounts and special concessions and steps to help members at this critical time. You will be receiving a separate memorandum from me soon. Thank you again for being a Chamber member. Regards, Eden Woon