Europe Forum for Member Associations in Europe

Copenhagen, Denmark
18 May 2006

REPORT

Mr. Ole Christoffersen, Head of Advisory Services of Danish Chamber of Commerce, gave a brief introduction on the "Borsen" building, where the Danish Chamber of Commerce is located; followed by the opening remarks by Mr. Bjorn Larsen, Vice Chairman of the Federation.

2. Presentation by Member Associations on Key Events / Issues

Each delegate shared his/her Association’s current situation in terms of membership, activities, successes and challenges and future plans.

• Austria – Ms. Lore Buscher mentioned that since Vienna was not a very frequently visited city by businessmen, finding good speakers to speak became a big challenge. 
• Germany – Lore shared that after publishing a new promotional leaflet for the German-HK Association, there was a 10% increase in membership.  It was said that the members were most interested in networking events. 
• Norway – For the Norway Hong Kong Trade Association, many efforts had been put into organising the activities which could boost up the interests among the Norwegian in Hong Kong and China.  Mr. Rudi Bolsoy also pointed out the fact that not many Norwegian companies have a presence in Hong Kong.  The biggest challenge was to attract good speakers and bring more Norwegian players to use the Hong Kong platform. 
• UK – Ms. Yolande Leroy shared that the insufficiency of resources in the Hong Kong UK Business Forum was one of the major reasons for the lack of activities during the year.
• Netherlands – About 11 events were organised last year and it was reported that a "Star Ferry" café was opened in March 2005.  The former NHKS Chairman Mr. Rob ten Heggeler was asked to open the cafe. The theatre café, next to Amsterdam’s newest concert hall boasts a model of a Star Ferry – the ferry that has crosses the waters between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon for decades.  It aimed to become a meeting point of Dutch companies that had business ties with Hong Kong / China.
• Russia – The HK business seminars and CNY receptions in Moscow and St.Petersburg in February 2006 attracted more than 350 people from business and official elites in these cities. The Russia Hong Kong Business Association has a positive cooperation with the Russian-Chinese Business Council.  Mr. Kalshnik pointed out that the current year is the year of Russia in China and that 2007 would be the year of China in Russia. It stands to reason to organise some large-scale HK promotional activities within the Federation framework or even beyond it in Russia next year.
• Sweden – Mr. Bo Ekander shared with us that the Royal Sweden Hong Kong Society had a very well-attended (400+ attendees) seminar was held in March last year.  It was noted that there were many seminars on China in town which resulted in fierce competition in recruiting audiences.
• Switzerland – TDC’s support on getting the right and high-calibre speakers contributed to the success of the seminar.  Ms. Esther Nageli reported that many companies started to aware of the reasons for choosing Hong Kong in penetrating into China.
• France – Jacques Pelletier emphasised that the biggest challenge was ‘how to convince French SMEs to use Hong Kong".
• Ireland – Mr. Brian Callanan reported several activities in the previous year: 1. "Hong Kong turning China into Opportunity" - Seminar November 2005. The event was attended by over 250 delegates with key note speakers from Hong Kong, Ireland and UK; 2. Chinese New Year Lunch February 2006, Speakers included Irish Government Minister, Shirley Lam and Lawrence Yipp; 3. Mission to Hong Kong to be organised in November to coincide with Hong Kong Forum, Innovation & Design Expo, and World SME Expo. 
• Italy – Ms. Marialuisa Sangalli mentioned that membership drive had always been a major focus and successful in the Italy Hong Kong Association.  In additional, new projects such as building a website in co-operation with the Hong Kong Tourism Board, as well as promoting the advertisement spaces on the membership directory in order to earn some income for the Association.
• Finland – Mr. Kari Cairenius shared with us the big environmental delegation Finland Hong Kong Trade Association brought to the Hong Kong Forum and World SME Expo last year.  The Association had always engaged a lot of resources in helping the Finnish small and medium sized companies to find ways to do business with China.  A research study, funded by HKTDC, on "Ways and Solutions for doing business with China through Hong Kong for Finnish small and medium sized companies" was conducted by a Finnish study in his 6-month stay in Hong Kong.
• Belgium – As of May 2006, the membership count for BHKS is 63, amongst which 27 are Corporate Members and 36 are Individual. Most members of BHKS come from leading Belgian companies. Currently, BHKS is headed by Mr Piet Steel, together with seven other board members. The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO) serves as the Secretariat of BHKS. The Board meets three to four times a year. BHKS regularly updates members on developments and business opportunities in Hong Kong; hosts speaking engagements for senior visitors from Hong Kong; and organises gatherings and activities, in partnership with HKETO and HKTDC, to showcase the dynamic culture of and opportunities in Hong Kong. BHKS established the Belgium-Hong Kong Society Scholarship which provides an opportunity for a Hong Kong student to undertake a one-year Masters Programme in European Studies at the College of Europe in Bruges. So far three Hong Kong students have been awarded the Scholarship and completed studies in the College. Application for the 2006-2007 scholarship is now underway.
• Denmark – On June 1, 2005, Denmark - Hong Kong Trade Association had 94 members, and by June 1, 2006 it had 106 members (about 70 % personal memberships and 30% company memberships). In 2005 it had 5 board meetings, and carried out 6 major events. This year started with the Chinese New Year's celebration at Royal Garden, where about 50 members participated. A quiz about Hong Kong and member companies donated some sponsor gifts was part of the programme.

3. Discussion Session I

What are members expecting from a HK business association?

• Market intelligence in East Asia, in particular, China and Hong Kong
• Networking opportunities for potential business partnerships and deals

What are the challenges of the HK business associations in Europe?

• Competition from other Chinese business councils/associations and the inflation of seminars cast certain threats to our member associations in recruiting/retaining members and attracting participants for their activities
• Difficulties in inviting speakers from Hong Kong

How to capitalise on the strong network of the 14 HK business associations in Europe

• Stronger identity / better branding of the Federation when recruiting members to join the associations.
• It was suggested to organise events on the border of two countries (e.g. Belgium & Netherlands) so as to attract more participates.
• The associations were encouraged to enter their events onto the Event Calendar in the Federation website so as to keep their neighbouring associations informed and thus allow them to participate in them.

4. Discussion Session II

How can the Federation and Hong Kong Forum help adding value to the HK business associations in Europe

• Christopher Leu, Federation Chairman, gave a brief introduction on the Federation website.  Joey Ko, representing the Federation Secretariat, did a more detailed demo on the website by showing the key features (e.g. Associates Directory) and how the member associations can make the best use of it.  A user manual on how to use the website should be sent to each member association. 
• More information on the Federation website (e.g. a user manual) and other promotional materials to be prepared and sent to each 14 Associations.
• It was proposed to design some templates for communication tools such as website and newsletter.
• It was suggested that the Federation should arouse more awareness among all member associations on the types of support (e.g. invitation of speakers from Hong Kong to the activities in Europe) from the Federation and HKTDC.