Over 1,000 Eateries To Join Promotion Campaign

Financial Secretary Paul Chan said on Thursday that over a thousand restaurants in Hong Kong have agreed to join a promotion scheme to offer discounts to customers over the next two months.

Flanked by catering sector lawmaker Tommy Cheung, Chan said the scheme, which requires restaurants to offer discounted menus in July and August, will encourage people to spend part of their HK$10,000 cash handout and give the embattled catering sector a much-needed boost.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Cheung said said he came up with a scheme to encourage people to dine out by offering them what he called "generous discounts" over the next two months.

The scheme, which starts from July 15, will see patrons have either some set meals or their entire bill at participating restaurants reduced by 30 percent in July, and then 20 percent in August.

When asked which restaurants would be eligible to join the scheme, Cheung said: "As long as they fulfill this requirement, we welcome them to join."

Chan denied he was present at the press conference to lobby support for Cheung ahead of the upcoming Legislative Council elections in September.

He said: "Mr Cheung is the representative of the catering sector at the Legislative Council at the moment. Over the years, from the government when we engage with reps of different sectors, we of course engage with the incumbent members, this is very natural."

Chan also called on other sectors to come up with their own promotion campaigns to boost domestic consumption.

The announcement comes after the government announced a relaxation of some social distancing measures amid the Covid-19 outbreak, which included allowing restaurants to resume normal operations.

A number of restaurants had been forced to shut amid the outbreak, and Tuesday's jobless figures showed that unemployment in the catering industry had risen to 14.8 percent.