Offer of lift from Uber too good to turn down
- With troubled Hong Kong fearing a loss of investor and business confidence, proposed headquarters move from Singapore by ride-hailing giant should be actively encouraged
At a time when the government is fretting about losing investor and business confidence as Beijing moves to impose a national security law on Hong Kong, Lam has just had a gift land on her lap, and such a high-profile one at that. Moreover, it looks like a firm commitment as Uber has offered to make the move in the next 12 months.
Allowing Uber in will also help smooth local riders’ perennial complaints about substandard services and poor hygiene of local taxis, a trade long dominated by cartels and special interests.
Both Lam and Xie Feng, China’s foreign ministry commissioner in Hong Kong, have gone out of their way to claim the new national security law is good for local businesses and foreign investors alike because it will help restore stability and calm.
So, what are Lam and local transport regulators waiting for?
One major problem with the politics of local business is that the transport trade and its lobby have a disproportionate influence in the legislature. Also, local regulators in all kinds of major industries are mostly run by government bureaucrats.
Their first instinct is to force new or aspiring entrants to a market to confirm to the existing – often long-standing – regulatory regimes rather than changing outdated regulations to cater to new operating environments, and changing market needs and consumer demands.
Uber offers to move regional headquarters to Hong Kong if service is legalised
There is clearly a demand for services such as Uber. Uber Flash, a controversial partnership between the company and some local taxi groups, took in more than 2.4 million trip requests in the nine months to December last year.
That means while most local businesses were badly hit by the anti-government protests, the tie-in service did brisk business. Despite continuing strong resistance from the local transport cartels, many taxi operators have actually seen the writing on the wall and are actively changing their ways, including working with a once perceived enemy such as Uber.
Local regulators should do the same. Of course, this is by no means a done deal with this government. There is an old Chinese saying that describes stupid people as those who don’t know how to take the antler even if they catch a deer.
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