Page 3 - Retailers_Spring

ve has been e l ec ted and the will take place on 1 July 2012. entatives and members of the and Mr. Bankee Kwan, I would to the Chief Executive-elect, Mr. C Y Leung, and express our heartfelt thanks to members for their support. Our gratitude also goes to the Hon Vincent Fang, SBS, JP, for his relentless effort on the subject. Please rest assured that we will continue to do our utmost to highlight critical issues to the new HKSAR Government to foster a more favourable business operating environment conducive to the sustainable growth of the retai l industry.

After a continual rise since November 2010, inflation eased for the first time to 5.4% in February 2012. It is expected that the rate will come down over the course of 2012 after it peaked in 2011. As for the labour market, given the imbalance between our population and labour force, our labour supply will likely continue to be challenging in the coming quarters. In order to gauge the current retail market challenges in recruiting staff, the Association conducted a survey on manpower shortage in January 2012. Findings indicated that we are on average short of staff by 8.8% and most of them are in the frontline. We have sent the survey results to our Chief Executive and relevant government officials. In light of increasing issues on labour matters, a Taskforce was formed with the objectives of monitoring labour-related issues and formulating advocacy plans and activities. The taskforce had its first meeting in January. Moving forward, the two Working Groups under the Taskforce will focus on formulating lobbying strategies and mobilizing operational support on key issues.

High operating costs have become a structural challenge for our industry and we all have to be very mindful should retail sales softens due to slowing down of internal consumption as well as mainland tourist arrivals and their spending power. The Hong Kong Tourism Board announced that their forecast of total tourist arrivals would slow down to 5.5% this year and for mainlanders, they will come down from a record high of 23.9% in 2011 to 7.6% this year. With the high base in operating costs, I urged our fellow retailers to pay special attention to this fast changing retail landscape.

Early signs for January and February 2012 combined had reaffirmed our concern. Even at an increase rate of 15.2% over 2011, this is still the lowest growth recorded in recent years.

The 2011 Repor t on Annual Earnings and Hours Sur vey (AEHS) revealed that the median monthly income of Hongkongers in the bottom 10% of earners was 17.7% higher in May and June 2011, the two months immediately after the minimum wage came into force, than in the second quarter of 2010. These updated data will be taken into account when reviewing the minimum wage rate. The Government information also showed that many employers have been paying meal breaks and rest days on top of the minimum hourly rate of HK$28. Hence, many employees have been receiving a rate of HK$32 per hour and the Association will continue to reflect all these in our submission to the Minimum Wage Commission.

新一屆行政長官選舉終於塵埃落定，並將於2012年7月1 日就職。我代表另外兩位選舉委員會委員馬景煊先生和關百豪先生，恭喜梁振英先生順利當選為新一屆行政長官，並感謝各位會員一直以來的支持。我亦衷心感謝方剛議員 SBS, JP在選舉過程中的努力。我們定當繼續竭誠，就各項相關議題，向新一屆特區政府提供意見，為本港零售業營造更有利的營商環境，以達致可持續增長。

通脹自2010年11月起持續攀升，於今年2月首次回落至 5.4%，預料通脹於去年見頂後，年內將會逐步回落。勞動市場方面，由於本地人口與勞動人口比例失衡，未來數季人手短缺問題應會持續。為了解零售業目前在招募人手方面的困難，本協會於1月就人手短缺問題進行調查，結果發現業界人手不足率平均為8.8%，當中大部份是前線職位。我們已向行政長官及相關官員提交調查結果，同時就日益增加的勞工問題特別成立專責小組，負責探討及倡議與勞工相關的議題，並已於本年1月舉行首次會議。展望未來，專責小組屬下的兩個工作小組將制定倡議策略，並就落實提供支援。

另外，經營成本高漲亦為業界帶來結構性障礙，我們必須加倍留意內需放緩、內地訪港旅客減少，及其消費力減弱而對銷售額的影響。香港旅遊發展局預測，今年全年訪港旅客升幅將減至5.5%，而內地訪港旅客升幅更將從去年的 23.9%歷史高位減至今年的7.6%。面對經營成本高企，希望業界加倍留意目前迅速變化的零售環境。

2011年收入及工時按年統計調查報告》顯示，去年5月及 6月實施最低工資後，本港收入最低10%人士的月入中位數，比2010年第二季上升17.7%。有關數據將會於檢討最低工資水平時被納入為考慮之內。政府的資料亦顯示，僱主除了向僱員支付每小時28港元的最低時薪外，也就用膳時間及休息日支付工資，令僱員時薪增至32港元。本協會將繼續向最低工資委員會反映有關情況。

Page 3 - Retailers_Spring_2012

Page 3 - Retailers_Spring_2012