Goodwin Gaw: «False Perception» is Hong Kong’s Top Challenge
Hong Kong is suffering from the issue of «false perception» often being promoted by Western media, according to Gaw Capital Partners chairman Goodwin Gaw.
Hong Kong is facing a number of headwinds it hasn’t seen in recent history. China’s economy slowing for the first time in decades. Geopolitical tensions are on the rise. Investor sentiment remains weak.
However, the biggest challenge the city faces is not the reality on the ground but «false perception», according to Goodwin Gaw, chairman of Gaw Capital Partners – a real estate private equity fund management firm with $35.8 billion of assets under management as of the third quarter of 2024 which includes the Gaw family’s money.
«If you come to Hong Kong, you see the meetings you get, the people you meet who are based in Hong Kong, the amount of business you can do in one to two days and buy some art and maybe apartment on the side […] then you realize the deception you might be reading in the Western media,» commented Gaw during a panel at the Milken Institute Global Investors’ Symposium attended by finews.asia.
Topographical Advantage Over Singapore
On Hong Kong’s rivalry with Singapore, particularly with regard to winning talent, Gaw spoke about the former’s advantages specifically in the oft-cited attractiveness of its landscape.
«We have plenty of friends who actually were singing the virtue of Singapore during Covid. And then how many of them actually moved back to Hong Kong?» Gaw said. «Because they say it's a flat island in Singapore, right? You don't have 400 miles of hiking trails. You don't have 42 beaches. It's quite spectacular.»
Greater Bay Area: «Blood Swapping»
On the Greater Bay Area, an economic strategy involving the integration of 11 cities in southern China, Gaw noted that Hong Kong’s retail sector could suffer from short-term pain due to northbound consumption but that a future vision of what it called «blood swapping» could be realized.
«You're going to have retirees having a higher quality of life living on a golf course for a fraction of the price in Zhuhai versus Hong Kong, freeing up real estate space at home for the high-salary financial sector executives or high-tech executives,» he explained.
Tariff Risks
Still, Gaw admits that there are real obstacles ahead such as relatively high interest rates, local property troubles and, most notably, the escalating trade war due to US tariffs as it affects sentiment, fund flow and the origins of capital.
«Obviously, it's hard […] not to be highly in tune with geopolitics. But I think there's a Chinese saying: if money can solve a problem, it's not really a problem,» he added. «Ultimately, it's a negotiation. It's a deal. So you just have to factor that into how you allocate your capital.»
