Chamber Annual Report 2003

The Business Development Division is responsible for improving the Chamber's understanding of members' needs, and to enhance services and programmes provided to members. It is also handles all services and initiatives relating to membership and members' benefits.

Membership

Membership retention efforts began to gain momentum in 2003, with membership renewal reaching 85 percent for the year under review. Two campaigns conducted during the year, the Member-get-Member Campaign and Staff-get-Member Campaign, played an important role in the recruitment of new members. 

The Chamber also continued to enhance the "monetary" value of membership by providing member companies employing 10 or fewer staff with "Small Company Coupons" worth $400, redeemable for luncheon talks. The Member Benefits Program continued to attract members looking for new channels to promote their products and services, especially during the SARS recovery months from May to July. Special SARS discounts on Chamber services and programs were also offered to members. About          1,500 members took advantage of the discounts worth $1.04 million.

Fellowship Events

The division initiated several new fellowship events in 2003 to expand the number and variety of social functions that members can participate in:

Chamber Happy Hour -- Organized once a month at Lan Kwai Fong's "Va Bene."   This walk-in event attracts between 50 and 80 attendees each time, and has been much welcomed by members.

Golf Outings -- Three trips were organized during the year, with about 40 members participated in each outing. The Chamber also co-organized the Inter-Chamber's Annual International Business Golf Tournament.

Dinner Club -- An average of 100 members joined each of the quarterly Dinner Club gatherings during the year.

Cocktail Receptions -- In addition to five cocktail evenings organised by different divisions of the Chamber last year, we organised a cocktail reception at Hong Kong Club in October. Over 600 members attended the event, hosted by Membership Committee Chairman David Eldon.

Women Executives Club -- The club organized about 20 events during the year under review. The highlight of the year was a Charity Ball in September in support of Operation Smile Medical Mission. Some 500 guests attended the event, which raised $1.8 million for the charity.

Trade Inquiries

To help members develop their business networks with overseas buyers and suppliers, the division continues to send members carefully chosen trade news and business opportunities. In 2003, over 100 members had registered to receive the fortnightly trade inquiry reports and close to 3,000 members receive our regular "Business Opportunities" email alerts.

The Opportunities section of the Chamber Web site received over 900,000 page views in 2003, and over 4,000 trade opportunities were posted online. About 10,000 replies to the posted offers on our Web site were registered, plus approximately 3,000 inquiries were handled by our division. In cooperation with the International Business Division, almost 100 overseas delegates were received and members were invited to attend the business-matching meetings.

Programs

To expand the diversity of programs offered to members, the division launched two new series of events in 2003, the Chamber Town Hall Forum Series, and the Conversation with a General Committee Member Series. The division also continues to organise the hugely popular Distinguished Speakers Series luncheons, as well as and business conferences.

A Conversation with a General Committee Member Series -- The division launched this series in March 2003 to enhance communication between Chamber members and the General Committee. Open to members only and off the record, the series provides a free flow of candid exchanges between members and General Committee members.  Five General Committee members spoke at the series in 2003:

• Anthony Nightingale, HKGGC Chairman, and Chairman of Jardine Pacific

• The Honourable James Tien, Chamber Representative in the Legislative Council

• David Eldon, HKGCC Deputy Chairman, and Chairman of The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation

• Victor Li, Managing Director & Deputy Chairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings)

• Marjorie Yang, Chairman of Esquel Group of Companies.

The Town Hall Forum -- This series of informal exchanges between principal government officials and members has been extremely popular. To encourage a free dialogue, the event is open to members only and is off the record. The Chamber was deeply honoured that the following principal officials spoke to us in 2003 (in chronological order The Honourable):

• Stephen Ip, Secretary for Economic Development & Labour

• Frederick Ma, Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury

• Michael Suen, Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands

• Patrick Ho, Secretary for Home Affairs

• Joseph Wong, Secretary for Civil Service

• Arthur Li, Secretary for Education and Manpower

• Stephen Lam, Secretary for Constitutional Affairs

• John Tsang, Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology

Distinguished Speakers Series -- Thousands of members have attended DSS luncheons and dinners since the series was launched in 2001. During the year under review, despite the SARS outbreak, four DDS luncheons were organised.

• The Honourable Clark Randt, United States Ambassador to China

• Michael Eskew, Chairman and CEO, UPS

• The Honourable Henry Tang, Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR

• Richard Parsons, Chairman and CEO, AOL Time Warner

Annual Events -- In addition to the above, the division also organised regular, large scale luncheons and conferences:

• Joint Business Community Post-Policy Address Luncheon with the HKSAR Chief Executive

• Post-Budget Luncheon with the Financial Secretary

• The Fifth Venture Capital / Private Equity Partnership Conference

• The Second Pearl River Delta Conference

• The 10th Annual Hong Kong Business Summit

Special Events

• Subsequent to the lifting of the World Health Organisation travel advisory on Hong Kong in end May 2003, the Chamber, in cooperation with Operation UNITE and other local and international chambers in Hong Kong, hosted a special post-SARS conference on June 7 entitled "Business After SARS."

• To celebrate China's first ever manned space flight, the division organised a joint business community luncheon in November for Astronaut Yang Liwei.

Chairman's Review   l  CEO's Report  l   International Business Division Report
Business Policy Division Report  l  Economic & Legal Affairs Division Report 
Certification Division Report  l  Business Development Division Report 
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