Business as usual in Hong Kong

Now begins the period of adjustment to communist rule.

How will this affect business? According to Leonard Traub, executive vice president of Hallandale-Florida based Herbko International Inc., which maintains an administrative office in Hong Kong, not much at all. "The Chinese government, in their takeover agreement, agreed to make no changes for the next 50 years," says Traub.

Herbko, which makes a variety of games including the popular Crossword Companion Roll-A-PuzzleÒ system, has licenses from companies including the New York Times, The LA Times, USA Today, Dell, Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. The plastic goods for these products are manufactured in Hong Kong, the paper puzzle rolls are printed there, and the goods are assembled there as well. Herbko’s Hong Kong office coordinates manufacturing and receives the finished goods. From Hong Kong they are shipped to the rest of the world.

This gives Herbko a base of experience in dealing with the Chinese, and Traub is confident that the new regime will do nothing to disrupt business. "Everything will stay the same, at least for the next five to ten years," he predicts. "In September, we’ll hear more, when the new governor, Tung Chee-Hwa, makes his address. Then next May there will be elections. While there may be some changes, anything that happens will happen very slowly."

There will be new bureaucrats in Hong Kong, and some of the British flavor will be lost, but it’s clear that at least for the next few years it’ll be business as usual, particularly for many U.S. and South Florida firms.