On my way to the World Congress of Accountants this year I spent a week in Hong Kong. With its unique blend of East and West it always feels both remarkably familiar and excitingly different.
The growing influence of China and the waning, now historical one of the UK. Hong Kong is uniquely placed to provide a bridge between East and West, and that is a great opportunity, but it also makes it particularly exposed to the possibility of a trade war between China and the US. "China has grown up very quickly," said a lunch companion from one of the large firms, "but setting aside the rights and wrongs of the situation, it is not yet ready to have a trade war with the US."
Secondly, I was interested to hear whether our perception of a crisis of a confidence in audit and concerns about the dominance of the Big Four were mirrored locally. The former may well be on the agenda, but to understand the second it is critical to remember that whereas in the UK the Big Four's share of FTSE 350 auditing has risen from 95% to 98% in the last five years, in Hong Kong the figure is closer 65%. So less of a cosy club and more scope for competitive pressures to work their invisible magic.
More trivially, two things struck me. In Hong Kong, an Uber costs 30-50% more than a standard taxi, a figure which is accepted because the Prius and Mercedes used by Uber drivers are considered to be superior to and more comfortable than the standard taxi. I am so used to Uber undercutting the London taxi that I had never considered the fact that far from being a national treasure to be valued, the black cab is also pretty uncomfortable.
Secondly, and incredibly frustrating for the visitor from out of town, is that Google maps hardly works. As you walk, it keeps changing its mind about which street your are on, jumping around randomly just as you thought you knew where you were. I think it must be the height of the buildings. First world problems I know, but Google, please sort it out!
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