HKEIA Activities
HKEIA Annual General Meeting
The HKEIA Annual General Meeting Luncheon has fully completed on 5 August 2008 at Hotel Nikko Hongkong. Altogether 150 guests and members packed the Ballroom. Prof. K.B. Chan, M.H., Chairman of the HKEIA reported and gave assessment from 2007 to 2008. We have invited the honorable Mr. Gregory So Kam Leung, JP Under Secretary for commerce and Economic Development as keynote speaker.
Speech for HKEIA Luncheon - August 5, 2008 (Prof. KB Chan, M.H.)
Guest of Honor, The Honorable Mr Greg So, Undersecretary for Commerce and Economic Development, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends of the Hong Kong Electronic Industries Association,
Good afternoon and welcome to this luncheon. Today we are very glad to have Mr So with us. This is his first time to join our event and I would like to extend my warmest welcome to him.
Recently, the electronics industry in Hong Kong has been facing the most difficult time due to high oil and raw materials prices, surging labor costs, the appreciation of the Renminbi and the stiff policy on Processing Trade. Thousands of Hong Kong-invested factories in Guangdong have to scale down their production or are even closing down. It is a huge challenge that we need to cut resources to reduce operating costs while trying to maintain our sales.
The Hong Kong Government is making great effort in supporting us and voicing our concerns to the Mainland Chinese Government. Not long ago, Guangdong agreed to offer RMB40 billion to HK-funded SMEs to relocate their operations. Today, the Governments of HK and Guangdong are holding the 11th Plenary of the Co-operation Joint Conference. One of the major discussion topics is the "Upgrading of the Processing Trade in Guangdong".
Two weeks ago, Chief Executive Mr Donald Tsang led a delegation of over 100 local businesspeople to Northeast China to explore business opportunities. I am delighted that our Government is taking initiatives to build up a more effective platform between HK enterprises and the Mainland.
Traditionally, Hong Kong serves as an international trading center and a gateway for overseas investors into the Mainland. Each year in Spring or Autumn, the Hong Kong Electronic Fair attracts over 50,000 buyers from all over the world. To overcome the existent hurdles and enhance our competitiveness in the long-term, we need to develop the Hong Kong electronics industry into an "innovation economy". We now have the Science Park, ASTRI, Productivity Council and R&D centers for different areas including information & communication technologies. In the midst of China's economic transformation focusing on high-tech and environmentally friendly industries, we should strengthen our partnership with Mainland enterprises in innovative technologies.
I truthfully wish more funding for R&D and financial support could be allocated to the HK electronics enterprises. I am sure Mr So is with us on this and will do all his best to help us.
The HK Government is playing a key role in the development of our industry and definitely it is becoming more and more important to us. Our Association is sincerely looking forward to closer co-operation with the Government and having more opportunities for dialogue.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to all our members for their support to the Association. Our industry is now facing the toughest business environment. The Association will do its utmost to support our members to go through this unprecedented situation. I wish you all good health, happiness and success.
Thank you very much.
