Asia, Africa & Middle East Committee
It was an honour for Chamber CEO Patrick Yeung and Director for PR and Programs Malcolm Ainsworth to attend a ceremony on 10 January to witness Japan’s Ambassador to Hong Kong Okada Kenichi present Masakazu Yagyu, former Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, with The Foreign Minister’s Commendation Award for outstanding work in promoting trade, culture and business relations between Hong Kong and Japan.
The Chamber has worked for many years with Yagyu-san in his various roles to collaborate and expand business and cultural ties between Hong Kong and Japan. This Commendation Award is extremely well deserved. Congratulations Yagyu-san!
Planning for Middle East Mission
Jackson Wong, Deputy Director, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Dubai, had an online meeting with the Chamber’s Asia, Africa & Middle East Committee Chairman Jonathan Lamport and PR & Programs Director Malcolm Ainsworth to discuss the Chamber’s upcoming business mission to the Middle East early this year.
Wong pointed out that each region and even city offers various advantages for businesses in certain sectors, and investors often set up operations in free trade zones to take advantage of special privileges and operate under common law.
Europe Committee
It was an honour to welcome Kerim Sercan Evcin, Consul General of the Republic of Türkiye in Hong Kong, to the Chamber on 21 December. Chamber Chairman Betty Yuen, CEO Patrick Yeung and Europe Committee Vice Chairman Stratos Pourzitakis welcomed Evcin, who took up the post in September last year.
He spoke on a wide range of topics, including how Türkiye offers a wide range of investment opportunities in various sectors, especially in food, construction materials, fintech and tourism. He said Türkiye and Hong Kong share many similarities, not least serving as gateways between East and West.
Evcin hoped that the frequency of flights between Hong Kong and Türkiye could be increased. This would help to attract more visitors to Hong Kong for business and tourism, and allow them to see for themselves the true story of what is happening in Hong Kong.