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HKRMA NEWSLETTER 零售商

Message from the Chairman of HKRMA

香港零售管理協會主席之話

Ms. Caroline Mak, JP

麥瑞琼女士

Embracing challenges and opportunities

2014 was an eventful and significant year for Hong Kong. With instabilities in our external environment and a decline in mainland tourists’ spending patterns, the retail industry sailed through ups and downs throughout the year. Retail sales plunged for six consecutive months from February to July 2014. For the first eleven months of 2014, the total sales value only registered a modest year-on-year growth of 0.2%, with the volume slightly up by 0.8%. As in previous years, the Association conducted a survey to gauge our members' views on the retail sales performance and salary trends at the end of 2014. The findings showed that a majority of the 68 responding members (78.5%) anticipate positive growth for 2015 sales performance, with 58% indicating the growth would be between the mid to high single-digits at most. Ninety-seven percent of the respondents also said they would give a salary increase in 2015, and 62% will provide an increase in the range of 4% to 5%.

While risks related to changes in tourist spending pattern and mixed local consumer sentiment remain, the Association expects 2015 retail sales performance to grow by 5%. Alongside a number of operational challenges, fellow retailers are advised to be more prudent in their 2015 business plan. In previous months, the Association has been maintaining close contact with the respective government bureau and their officials in regard to possible ways to alleviate the burden on fellow retailers, especially SME retailers. Taking the opportunity of a get-together lunch with Mr. John Tsang, the Financial Secretary, on 24 November, 2014, our Executive Committee members had a candid exchange of views with Mr. Tsang on the retail industry's latest performance and manpower situation. We highly appreciate the Financial Secretary 's genuine concern about the retail industry, in particular, the latest challenges facing the retailers.

We submitted a comprehensive list of recommendations to the Government in December 2014 for the 2015-16 Policy Address and Budget. In particular, we proposed some immediate measures for the Government to revitalize Hong Kong after the Occupy protests, together with suggestions on special assistance to help SMEs, such as by reducing, postponing or cancelling business expenses like rates, business license fees, and extending loans. We sincerely hope that the Government maps out practical policies to boost the economy and assist the affected sectors, including retail.

The Association continued our advocacy work. In the four th quar ter of 2014, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) launched a public consul tat ion on a rev iew of Hong Kong’s discr iminat ion laws. The Association expressed concerns on the EOC's proposals, which were drawn up without a comprehensive assessment of their implications on different groups of Hong Kong people, the business community and the economy. For example, the proposal to expand the scope of marital status to include "de facto relationships" would obviously have tremendous implications on society at all levels, not to mention its huge cost implications to the

緊握機遇 展望將來

對香港而言，2014年是多變又重要的一 年。外圍環境波動，內地旅客消費持續下 降，零售業於年內經歷多番起伏。

零售銷售價值於2014年2月至7月連續六個 月下跌，首11個月的總銷售價值僅按年增 長0.2%，而銷售量亦只輕微上升0.8%。

一如以往，協會於年底進行調查，收集會 員對零售銷售表現及薪酬趨勢的意見。結 果發現於68名參與調查的會員中，大部分 會員(78.5%)預期2015年的銷售業績會有所 增長，而58%表示增幅最多為中至高單位 數。薪酬調整方面，97%會員表示會於新 一年加薪，而當中62%表示加薪幅度為4% 至5%。

由於旅客消費模式改變引致的不利影響持 續，加上本地消費意欲仍然波動，協會預 期2015年零售銷售業績增長為5%。鑑於行 業未來會面對不少考驗，零售商應為新一 年制定審慎的業務計劃。

過去數月，協會一直與相關政府部門及官員 保持緊密聯繫，積極商討可行對策，以減輕 零售商的負擔，尤其是中小型零售商。

執委會成員於2014年11月24日的午餐會 上，與財政司司長曾俊華先生衷誠討論零 售業的最新情況及人手問題。我們十分感 謝曾司長對零售業的關注，特別是零售現 時面對的各項挑戰。

此外，我們於2014年12月就2015-16年度 《施政報告》及《財政預算案》向政府提交 一系列建議，當中特別提及政府可於「佔領 中環」運動結束後振興香港的即時措施，同 時亦建議政府推出扶助中小企的特別援助， 例如減少、延遲徵收或寬免差餉及商業牌照 費，以及提供中小企貸款，協助零售商開源 節流。我們衷心希望政府能制定切實可行的 政策以復蘇香港經濟，並協助零售業及其他 受佔領運動影響的行業。

協會於報告期內一直致力參與倡議工作。 平等機會委員會（平機會）於2014年第4 季就檢討香港的歧視條例展開公眾諮詢。 協會就此向平機會反映意見，認為平機會 未有全面評估部分建議對香港各界人士、 商界及經濟的影響。例如平機會建議將 「事實婚姻關係」納入婚姻狀況，此舉不