HKGCC Annual Report 2003

Chamber Annual Report 2003

Business Policy Division

In November, HKCSI co-organised a seminar on the privatisation of Hong Kong International Airport.

The Business Policy Division is responsible for formulating the Chamber's views on public policies affecting business, especially relating to small and medium enterprises, environment, industry and technology and service industries.

Overview of Major Activities

Without doubt, 2003 was an extraordinary year, which resulted in the Division conducting a few unusual projects -- SARS, CEPA and 'Pearl for Youth' -- in addition to reviewing the advisory committees system of the Chamber and government.

SARS

During the SARS outbreak, the Division and its committees, especially the Travel/Tourism Committee and the SME Committee, contributed significantly to the Chamber's response to the epidemic. In April, the Chamber submitted a proposed package of relief measures, "In view of the effect of SARS on the Hong Kong economy," to the government. Many of these recommendations were adopted when the government unveiled its economic rescue package.

Under CEPA, many Mainland tourists can now visit Hong Kong independently, instead of having to join a group tour as in the past. The Division also organised a "Business Despite SARS" seminar in May with other divisions in the Chamber, and contributed to a Chamber paper on "Re-invigorate, Re-launch and Re-build," which was submitted to the Chief Executive in May for Hong Kong's "comeback campaign."

CEPA and China

The historic signing of the Mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), on June 29, 2003, and the signing again on September 29 of the six Annexes, were the culmination of many months of work within the Chamber, in which this Division played a substantial role.

The Division contributed to the Chamber's CEPA studies, both before and after CEPA was signed, with many of the Chamber's policy proposals being reflected in the CEPA text. It also played an active role in explaining CEPA to members through a series of CEPA roundtable workshops, to overseas visitors, and in various seminars held by professional bodies and community groups. The Division also contributed to the "CEPA Business Assessment" report, which was published in October.

Pearl River Delta

bp4.jpg (25761 bytes) As part of the Chamber's internal task force on the Pearl River Delta, the Division helped develop and run the Chamber's PRD initiative. This included a series of PRD roundtable luncheons, and a conference organised with the Central Policy Unit on "The New Era of the Pearl River Delta" in January. At the conference, the Chamber championed the concept of a "PRD Council," an idea that was later put forward by the Chief Executive in August.

bp5.jpg (16165 bytes) The Division's main PRD project during the year was "Pearl for Youth" -- a programme initiated by the Chamber and Standard Chartered Bank and supported by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups. The programme aims to build up the capacity and competitiveness of young people by encouraging them to consider developing their careers on the Mainland. Since its launch in January, the year-long project resulted in two studies being produced on employment opportunities for Hong Kong youth's in the PRD. The Division also published a "Living and Working in the PRD" Guidebook for Hong Kong youths. Some 11,000 copies of the highly acclaimed guidebook have been distributed.

The project culminated in a "Pearl for Youth" study mission to the PRD in December. The 80-member delegation visited Mainland companies in the PRD and concluded with a seminar in Shenzhen at which more than 200 Hong Kong youths participated.

Advisory Committees

The Division co-ordinated a review of the Terms of Reference of all Chamber committees. The guidelines were subsequently revised and became effective in June. During the year, the Chamber submitted two papers to the government addressing the need to review the role and functions of public sector advisory and statutory bodies.

Environment, Industry and SMEs

The Chamber continues to be a leading organiser of the Eco-Business Award. The Division houses an active "industrial" function in championing environmental protection, promoting industry and technology, and safeguarding the interest of small and medium enterprises.

Environment

The Environment Committee made progress on the subject of waste management, with programmes including policy debates and Members visit the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS) facilities at Stonecutters Island. "mentoring roundtables," as well as a position paper on waste management and landfill charging. The committee also organised a visit to the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS) facilities at Stonecutters Island.

The Chamber continued to chair and provide the secretariat for the Business Coalition on the Environment, as well as organise a number of high-profile environmental events, including the Eco-Business Award, and the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Festival.

Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises

The SME Committee remained active both in contributing to policy and in helping members do business during the year under review. The annual Spring Dinner in February saw the biggest number of attendees in recent years, filling 38 tables. SME Night in June, which focused on government regulatory departments building, customs, fire services and the police was also well attended.

Industry and Technology

The Industry and Technology Committee had a busy year in 2003. Besides continuing to organise the innovation category of the Hong Kong Awards for Services, the committee also organised a seminar on "Textiles 2005: What can we do?" Other functions included a subscription luncheon by Nobel laureate Prof Rolf Zinkernagel on biotechnology, and study tours to the Cyberport and the Chinese University, as well as co-organising the Asia Industrial Technology Congress.

Intellectual Property

The Chamber was very active with intellectual property issues in 2003. Several submissions were made on various aspects of the Copyright legislation, addressing issues such as parallel importation, reprographic rights and end-user liability. The No Fakes Campaign, which the Chamber organised, was re-activated to promote respect for intellectual property rights among retailers.

Service Industries

HKCSI, which acts as the Chamber's service policy think tank, had an especially challenging year, as both SARS and CEPA impacted the service industries.

Promotion of the service sectors remained a priority for HKCSI during the year under review. In April, the division presented a seminar on the promotion of professional services in co-operation with the Coalition of Profession Services, the Trade Development Council, the Hong Kong Productivity Council and the Business and Services Promotion Unit. HKCSI also continued to publish the "Servicing Economy" newsletter, along with the 2003 HKCSI Statistical Card. A new project initiated by the division in 2003 in co-operation with HKTDC was the promotion of Hong Kong's education services. In November, HKCSI co-organised a seminar on the privatisation of Hong Kong International Airport, with stakeholders and experts both from Hong Kong and abroad talking on the issue.

Besides local business policies, HKCSI was also active in the WTO, being the only accredited non-governmental business organisation to attend the Cancun Ministerial Conference in September. After the ministerial ended in failure, HKCSI, along with other counterparts around the world, initiated a joint statement in October calling on the Doha round of WTO negotiations to resume.

The Chamber's Retail and Distribution Committee focused on consumer protection in 2003 and maintained the Chamber's role on franchising through participation in the World Franchise Council.

Sustainability Report

Economy – Society – Environment
Achieving Harmony

The Chamber embraced the concept of sustainable development as early as 1992. We believe in the principle of sustainable development, and strive to put it into practice in our daily operation.

Environment
The Chamber’s Environment Committee is among the most active of all Chamber committees. As early as 1992 the committee promoted the Charter for Sustainable Development of the International Chamber of Commerce. (The Hong Kong SAR Government did not put "sustainable development" into its policy making vocabulary until 1995.) Over the years, the committee developed the Chamber’s position papers on waste disposal, chemical charges, effluent surcharge, vehicle exhausts, environmental impact assessment and air quality; and organised a wide range of programmes on topics ranging from environment audit to cross-border air pollution.

The Chamber initiated the concept of the Eco-Business Award, which has become the "definitive green award scheme" of the business sector. For the past five years the Chamber has been an organiser of the award along with the government and other organisations.

The Chamber is the only business association to have developed and promulgated an "Environmental Statement" among its members. We led the formation of the Business Coalition for the Environment, providing both chairman and secretariat for the coalition.

The Chamber secretariat started collecting paper for recycling as early as 1992. In 2003 the accumulated amount of paper recycled since the scheme was launched totalled 101,577 kg. This is equivalent to about 1,700 trees saved -- a good-sized forest. What is remarkable is that the paper recycling exercise started entirely as a voluntary campaign among Chamber staff.

Other measures in environmental stewardship we have adopted include:

extensive use of information technology, both for internal and external communication, thus cutting down paper usage substantially

using recyclable wrapping for sandwiches at Chamber roundtable luncheons

using recycled paper for printing name cards

a lights-off rule for common areas during work after office hour

Society
The Chamber’s care for the social dimension of business is nowhere better illustrated than by our efforts during the SARS outbreak. We cooperated with "Operation Unite" in taking a leadership role in various programmes both during the outbreak and in the post-SARS comeback campaign.

The Chamber contributes to public service through the participation of its members and senior executives in more than 60 public sector advisory bodies -– a significant contribution civil-society participation in public affairs, considering that the Chamber itself is a medium-sized non-government organisation. We also organised more community-wide programmes that connect to the ordinary people, such as the Good Citizens Award and the Workplace English Programme.

A specific theme of the Chamber’s social involvement in 2002 and 2003 has been to assist our young people. We initiated a One-Company-One-Job campaign in 2002 and the Pearl for Youth project in 2003 to help our university graduates broaden their employment options.

Economy
As a business association, our primary contribution has to be towards the "economy" side of sustainable development. The Chamber itself is not a profit-generating business, but we facilitate our members to do business and make profits, by maintaining the Chamber’s leadership status in trade promotion and business policy. A prime example is that of CEPA, which, along with other achievements of the Chamber, is detailed in the rest of this Annual Report.

HKGCC Environment Statement

The Chamber is committed to the protection of the environment and the management of impacts arising from business activities.

We will encourage our members to incorporate a balance between environmental and business issues into their daily activities by subscribing to the following principles:

Promoting good environmental practices by the company

Providing appropriate environmental awareness education to all employees

Including environmental considerations in corporate decision making at all levels

Providing environmental reporting both internally and externally for continuous improvement

Integrating environmental management with safety and quality systems as appropriate

Fostering corporate leadership through environmental emphasis with all business partners and with the community

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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