Hong Kong authorities have vowed to develop a long-term road map for the city’s struggling self-financing postal operator and keep an “open-mind” on all options, including privatisation or turning it into a traditional department. Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Bernard Chan Pak-li revealed the move at the Legislative Council’s economic development panel meeting on Tuesday, saying the proposed HK$4.6 billion (US$587 million) cash injection to Hongkong Post was intended to...
Hongkong Post’s worsening financial situation may require not only an injection of funds but also a return to being a government-funded department providing basic public services, observers have said. The analysts’ views follow the authorities’ plan to inject HK$4.6 billion (US$587 million) as a lifeline to support Hongkong Post’s operations over the next three years, amid similar losses faced by postal operators worldwide. Hongkong Post has operated on a self-funding basis since 1995, following...
In Hong Kong’s busy commercial area of Causeway Bay, a post office located in a major shopping centre served just a few dozen customers during lunch on Thursday. Across 90 minutes, when nearby restaurants and shops were filled with residents pressed for time, the post office stayed mostly empty, its workers outnumbering the people they were serving. Hongkong Post is struggling with the same existential threat facing other traditional mail service operators worldwide: how to stay relevant in a...
Hong Kong authorities are seeking to inject HK$4.6 billion (US$587 million) into the government-owned postal service provider to sustain its operations for the next three years, following eight years of losses and declining mail volume. A document submitted to the Legislative Council on Wednesday by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau showed a bruising fiscal trajectory for the Post Office Trading Fund (POTF) of Hongkong Post since 2017-18. Self-financing since 1995, Hongkong Post has...