The Bulletin: Congratulations on becoming the Chamber’s CEO. Why did you decide to take on this role?
Patrick Yeung: Thank you very much. This is a good question indeed, and I would like to quote from the 1994 film Forrest Gump: ‘Life is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get.‘
I found myself exactly in that situation. I had planned to work for three more years after I turned 60. But the right opportunity never arose, until the HKGCC position came along. It was something that had never crossed my mind, as I had always been working on the commercial side of the aviation and tourism industries with Swire and Cathay Pacific.
I am – and will always be – a home-grown Hong Kong boy. I was educated here, from primary school to university, and began working in the 1980s, when Hong Kong’s economy began to take off. I have witnessed the astonishing development it has undergone, and I have benefited from Hong Kong’s success through the education I received and the career opportunities. At this stage, I want to make myself useful to my home city and do whatever I can. No matter how small the contribution, I want to be part of the bigger effort to see my city thrive.
B: Your career has spanned various industries across Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas. How will this experience inform your work at the Chamber?
PY: I am very lucky to have been able to work in Hong Kong, Beijing, as well as in the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore. It opened up new horizons and gave me exposure to diverse cultures and people. Living in these cities brought with it a broad perspective and new paradigms.
Career-wise, I have been the longest in aviation, which is a very international business, and taught me how global markets and dynamics work. I also acquired valuable know-how in management and commercial operations. I believe all this will help me in my new role at the Chamber. I am also fortunate to have spent time in Beijing where I gained a good understanding of government relations, which I hope will add value to the Chamber’s work.
B: What is at the top of your agenda as CEO?
PY: The Chamber’s four pillars – advocacy, connections, events and business services – have made it the reputable organization that it is today. I am not here to rock the boat. My role is to build on the strong foundations laid down by my predecessors and all those who have contributed to the Chamber’s growth.
However, as Hong Kong has seen some substantial changes since 2019, I do want to put a lot of effort into reinforcing Hong Kong’s role as a super-connector; a bridge between the world and the Mainland. Now that the pandemic is behind us, the focus of the Chamber will be to ramp up activities and grow existing networks both locally and overseas, as well as to keep up our advocacy work in support of policies favourable to the business community.
B: The aviation sector has lost a lot of ground to rivals in the past three years, with Hong Kong International Airport not yet able to function at full capacity due to manpower shortages. How long do you think it will be before the city regains the mantle of Asia’s aviation hub?
PY: Before the Covid-19 outbreak, Hong Kong International Airport was one of the world’s busiest airports, with around 120 airlines connecting to about 220 destinations worldwide. It handled over 70 million passengers and 4.8 million tonnes of cargo. The third runway, which opened in 2022, can take on an extra 30 million passengers a year, boosting total capacity to about 100 million, with cargo rising to 9 million tons. With such capabilities, it is only a matter of time before the sector bounces back.
Of course, it won’t happen tomorrow. But hopefully, most Hong Kong carriers will be able to offer increased capacity, as well as new routes and destinations, by the year’s end. In fact, Cathay Pacific added about 3,000 flights and reached one-third capacity last December, and aims to reach pre-pandemic capacity levels by the end of 2024, despite Hong Kong opening up much later than its neighbouring countries post-Covid. Once normalcy is restored, the sector will soon do better than in pre-pandemic times. Not necessarily in terms of just quantity, but also quality, for which Hong Kong has a good reputation.
An important factor to consider is Hong Kong’s role in the National 14th Five-Year Plan. This includes enhancing and developing four sectors, one of which is Hong Kong’s role as an international aviation hub. With this directive, and building on our excellent infrastructure, I am optimistic about the future and the city’s status as a super-connector.
B: The forecast for annual tourist arrivals this year will be about 46% of that in 2019. What can be done to boost numbers and attract a wider demographic of travellers besides those from the Mainland?
PY: While it is always good to see tourists returning, at one point some countries in Asia and around the world were struggling with overtourism. So, as well as trying to boost our visitor numbers, it is also important to offer sustainable and responsible tourism, and to ask ourselves how this can be done.
The future of Hong Kong’s tourism industry depends on what we can do to set ourselves apart from competing destinations. If you look back to the period after the SARS crisis, it was the tourists from the Mainland who gave Hong Kong a strong boost. Tourism is an integral part of Hong Kong’s economy, and the Mainland has consistently been our key source market.
Going forward, diversifying the tourism sector will be important in attracting a wider demographic. The younger generation, for example, have a different idea of tourism compared to older, more traditional visitors. They want more than shopping and food – they are looking for green tourism, art and culture, adventure travel. Also important to them is how eco-conscious and smart a city is. While Hong Kong already ticks many of these boxes, it also has the potential to develop more tourism products.
I believe we should not expect visitors to only want the traditional offerings of the past any more, or we will not move forward. In that regard, Hong Kong has lots of rich new attractions, such as the Hong Kong Palace Museum and M+. Many people don’t know that T•Park – a waste-to-energy plant that processes around 2,000 tons of sludge daily – also has a bird sanctuary, gardens and spas. Take the collaboration between Star Ferry and the Peninsula Hong Kong to offer high tea cruises, or the yellow ducks that were in Victoria Harbour recently – they brought so much joy to both locals and visitors. These are all great examples of a multi-layered approach to sparking excitement about Hong Kong.
B: Despite the Government supporting small businesses and handing out tranches of e-consumption vouchers, growth has been sluggish. How can the economy be stimulated in the face of external factors like high interest rates and weak global demand?
PY: As the Chinese saying goes, ‘To grow your business, either save on costs or look for new revenue streams.’ Hong Kong must find and develop new markets, and our Chief Executive is actively pursuing business development abroad, particularly in the Middle East and ASEAN countries.
SMEs are integral to economic growth, but depending on the sector, they need different kinds of support and plans. For example, while there is a lot of talk about the need to embrace digitalization, not all companies have the knowledge or capability. The Government must consider broader policies that help to equip enterprises with the requisite skills needed.
Hong Kong must also seize opportunities for deeper connections with the Greater Bay Area (GBA). It is potentially a big source of manpower for our shrinking labour market. For example, Cathay Pacific has decided to recruit both cockpit and cabin crew from GBA cities. The Government could also consider introducing schemes that help GBA graduates seeking jobs to live and work in Hong Kong. Besides this, the sharing of tech knowledge between all the GBA cities will go a long way towards promoting high-quality growth as Hong Kong crosses into the next phase of development.
The Chamber can play a role in helping members explore more opportunities in the GBA, as well as the Middle East and ASEAN, for which the Government has already paved the way. We can also build on the trade agreements signed in these regions, and cohesively coordinate efforts to encourage Hong Kong companies to build new business connections.
B: With your experience in international companies and having dealt with overseas markets, how can we combat the negative misperceptions being spread about Hong Kong?
PY: My friends overseas are always asking me, ‘Is Hong Kong okay?’ ‘Is it safe?’ Well, in today’s world, with all these geo-political issues, we cannot rely on others to say good things about us, particularly with the prevalence of fake news and biased media coverage. This means it is on us to tell Hong Kong’s stories loud and clear. That’s why going out and spreading the word is so important.
In fact, I have adopted 12 Chinese characters "唱好香港故事，引進來、帶出去" as a directive for my new role at the Chamber, which means: ‘Sing Hong Kong stories well, bring in and reach out’ (for investment opportunities). At the Chamber, we have many opportunities to share positive stories through networking events, advocacy, and connections via our 4,000-plus corporate members. At the same time, we also need to actively attract people who are interested in investing, because business always follows the money. Hong Kong is known for its financial infrastructure and products, and opportunities are being created every single day.
B: On a separate note, I’d like to ask about your passion for music. As a tenor, you’ve given many solo performances in Hong Kong over the years. What sustains your love for singing?
PY: My singing gene comes from my mother, an amateur Cantonese opera singer. The nourishment came from the high school I attended, St Paul’s Co-Educational College, where I had the opportunity to sing regularly in the school choir and at church services.
Singing is an excellent exercise with a lot of mental and physical benefits. Singing also generates energy; it is contagious, inspires and is a great way to connect with people. This is why, since I turned 60, I have been holding annual performances at The Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall, which provides a platform to reconnect with friends and colleagues. This resonates with my new and important role at the Chamber: forging new and wider connections, and singing good stories about Hong Kong to the world.