Public Housing Shops Strikes Gold

"The free market at work: the Hong Kong government owned a batch of unprofitable shopping malls and parking lots that it put into private hands two years ago. On Tuesday, this assortment of properties, which became the territory's first and largest real estate investment trust, posted higher-than expected profits for its first half year."

"The malls and parking areas were notorious for poor management and high vacancy rates when they were under the government control. The Link revamped the malls one by one, replacing dirty fast-food stalls with sushi bars and coffee shops, while trendy fashion retailers were substituted for messy bargain booths.

According a UBS research report, the Link has hired more than 1,000 customer services staffers to replace stern-looking security guards. Making the malls more shopper friendly, UBS forecast will help raise rental income to $2.7 billion Hong Kong ($348 million) in 2008 from $1.6billion Hong Kong ($208 million) in 2004, when the assets were run by the public sector."