Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
was undertaking some volunteer Christian ministry with new immigrants.
He saw an uninviting business culture with significant barriers to entry:
What really surprised me and is still surprising me is the tax situation. Not
surprising, it's shocking compared to Hong Kong… Be prepared not to be too
optimistic regarding finding a job or making money or building a new busi-
ness venture or enterprises. [Immigrants] should not be too optimistic and be
prepared to eat up your capital. I think that's pretty serious… In Hong Kong
when we invest, we look at three, five, seven years at most. But here you have
to look long term. If you fail in one business, we say 'Well, let's do it again,
maybe one of these days I can strike the jackpot'. But in Hong Kong if you
don't hit the jackpot once or twice then forget it because time was short before
1997. So the mentality is that we cannot look at things long term, keep on
paying tax and keep on trying, trying… And the rate of return, if we have less
than 10 percent, then [in Hong Kong] we say 'Forget it, it's a waste of time'.
But here if you have 10 percent return a year, 'Wow, that's great!' So it is a
different mentality.
High levels of taxation, regulatory impediments and low returns have dis-
couraged or delayed entrepreneurial activity by potential business people.
Mr. Chow told me the story of a very wealthy acquaintance, a billionaire,
who had planned to construct a large factory producing batteries outside
Vancouver, but who relocated his investment to Mexico in the face of what
he regarded as interminable environmental studies. Two of the interviewees
had themselves been manufacturers prior to moving to Vancouver - exactly
the types of entrepreneurs sought by the Business Immigration Programme
- but had been deterred by the regulatory environment they encountered.
Mr. So had been in the dyeing and finishing sector of the textile industry in
Hong Kong with a factory employing a hundred people. He had concluded
that pollution laws, labour regulations, and start-up costs made the business
not feasible in British Columbia. Upon his arrival, Mr. So took early retire-
ment. In contrast Mr. Wu had been co-owner of a garment manufacturing
business in Hong Kong and had tried to enter the same sector in Canada.
But the business had failed due to a combination of problems with unreli-
able suppliers and buyers as well as tough labour relationships. Mr. Wu had
made a career change and become a greengrocer in a primarily white
suburb; after 14 years of persistent financial loss in Canada he was finally
making money, a net profit of some $3,000 a month, for a work week of
70-80 hours:
For me the best thing is, yeah, because I lost a lot of money in Canada, it's the
first time I make money in Canada. This is very, very pleasant, because we
really make a profit. This is the best thing in my life (laughs). Because, since
the day I came, before I start this job I always lost money.
