Report
 
  Background
  • Asia Forum is a proliferation of the Southeast Asia Forum first initiated by the Hong Kong Business Association Vietnam and held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2004. This was repeated in Bangkok (2005), in Singapore (2006) and in Vietnam (2007).

  • On 29-30 May 2008, Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in China – Guangdong (HKCCC - GD) played host to the annual forum facilitated by the Secretariat of the Federation of Hong Kong Business Associations Worldwide.

Participants

A total of 14 representatives from the Hong Kong Business Associations in China, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand attended the events:

- Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in China – Guangdong (1)
- The Japan Hong Kong Society (2)
- Hong Kong Singapore Business Association (5)
- Hong Kong Business Association, Vietnam (3)
- Thai Hong Kong Trade Association (3)

It is a gratitude to see the following guest speakers attend and speak at the event:

- Mr. Chen Yue Hua
  Director, Foreign Investment Promotion Division,
  Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of Guangdong Province

- Mr. Eddie Lam
  Chief Executive Officer, Onlen Fairyland (Hong Kong) Company Limited

- Mr. Matthew Au
  Director (Client Service), ACNielsen (Guangzhou) Limited

Programme Highlights

Day 1 - May 29, 2008
1. Pre-Dinner Drinking and Welcome Dinner

  • Representatives from the Hong Kong Business Associations in Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam joined the monthly cocktail night of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in China – Guangdong (HKCCC – GD) and met over 40 members of the HKCCC-GD.
  • Representatives from each asociation were introduced to the HKCCC-GD members and were given opportunity to introduce their associations.
  • Mr. Sonny Doo, President of the HKCCC and 4 other vice presidents joined the Welcome Dinner and mingled with participants of the Asia Forum.

Day 2 – May 30, 2008
2. Asia Forum Discussion Session

  • Mr. Sonny Doo started the Forum by introducing the HKCCC-GD and its services such as their newsletter - CONTACTS and activites. He also addressed on the latest development and business opportunities in the Pearl River Delta region.

  • Representaives from Hong Kong Business Associations in Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam shared their experience and raised suggestion on:

    - Member recruitment
    - Format and content of activities
    - Revenue generation through events
    - Challenge and way forward
    - Possibility of joint events among the association
    - Development of Hong Kong Business Associations in Asia

3. Insider Intelligence Sharing Session

  • Guest speaker, Mr. Eddie Lam, CEO, Onlen Fairyland (HK) Co. Ltd shared his experience on how to tackle the challenges and changes of policies in the Chinese mainland.
  • Another speaker, Mr. Matthew Au, Director (Client service), ACNielsen (Guangzhou) Ltd. shared his company’s latest China market analysis and research.
  • Q & A session Forum participants enthusiastically raised questions to the speakers, particularly asking for practical tips on doing business on the mainland. Mr. Eddie Lam generously shared his successful experience and pointed out the importance of using the Hong Kong services.

4. Keynote Luncheon

  • Mr. Chen Yue Hua, Director of the Foreign Investment Promotion Division, Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of Guangdong Province was invited to address on latest development and opportunities in Guangdong.
  • Participants were impressed by Mr. Chen’s presentation. Several questions about Guangdong’s economic and investment environment were answered by Mr.Chen.

5. Factory Visit in Dongguan 

  • Participants travelled to Dongguan to visit the Nine Dragons Paper (Holdings) Ltd, the largest packaging paperboard manufacturer in Asia.
  • Ms. Cheung Yan, Chairlady of the Nine Dragons Paper gave a warm welcome to the participants and introduced her company’s background, development and future plan, followed by a guided tour at the plant.

Results & Recommendations

  • Attending representatives re-affirmed the Forum a good platform to network, exchange experience and build contacts as well as business interest.

  • This year’s Asia Forum was first held outside of the SouthEast Asia. Participants agreed the mainland was a good location for the Forum where they can know more about the latest development and business opportunities in the mainland market.

  • Representatives appreciated the informative and fruitful program which local government officials, industry players including manufacturers, service providers and market researchers in Guangdong were invited to share their market intelligence and introduce the latest development in the Pearl River Delta region, Guangdong and the mainland.

  • Participants in general recommended the next forum be held in Thailand as it was held in Bangkok 3 years ago.

 

  
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