Agreement Reached On MPF Offsetting Mechanism

Labour and business representatives said on Wednesday that they have reached a consensus on scrapping the contentious MPF offsetting mechanism. This emerged from a Labour Advisory Board meeting between the two sides.

Speaking for employers Jimmy Kwok from the Federation of Hong Kong Industries said the ball was now in the government's court. He said the administration needs to improve its HK$17.2 billion subsidy proposal, to help small companies through the transition period.

"How we eliminate concerns from the SMEs is the main concern now," he said. They worry about the cost to the enterprises, Kwok added.

Labour representative Bill Tang described the meeting as a "milestone". He said the labour side agreed with businesses that the government should address calls for greater financial help for companies with what he called "smarter" financing and policies.

"We urge the government to have more meetings and studies with different sectors to solve the problems," he said.