'Half-hearted Quarantine Exemption Not Enough'

The government's being urged to ensure a reciprocal arrangement from mainland authorities as it irons out details of a quarantine-exemption scheme for key business travellers.

The SAR government had announced last week that cross-border business travellers whose activities are deemed beneficial to Hong Kong would be exempt from a mandatory 14-day quarantine in future.

But as things stand, there's no such exemption when they go back the other way.

The plan hasn’t actually been implemented yet, and details are still being worked out, but some businessmen say they're puzzled by this apparent half-measure.

Engineer Dan Van Hoy often travels up to his electronics factories across the border.

He points out that while it's good that he wouldn't have to stay home for two weeks when coming back to Hong Kong, it's not terribly useful when he still has to observe a quarantine imposed by authorities when he enters the mainland.

"As a businessman, I'm a little frustrated because I'm unable to go to my factories up in Shenzhen and Dongguan area. It's a busy season. I don't understand why the government introduced this programme when only half of the equation – half of the need – is resolved”, he said.

Van Hoy said very few people – like himself – would be willing to stay in quarantine for two weeks just to cross the border.

The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce has also previously voiced concerns about the problem, saying the mainland's quarantine requirements are seriously affecting local companies. It had urged the SAR government to negotiate with Beijing to ease such restrictions for local business travellers.

In response, a press officer at the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau told RTHK that the government is still in talks with mainland officials over the matter.