As the end of the year approaches, it is traditional to look back on the achievements of the past 12 months and consider where we can do better. While the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted how we serve our members, the Chamber has remained as busy as ever delivering a wide range of services and events. 

A major initiative in 2021 was our Hong Kong We Can Do It! Lucky Draw campaign, which saw millions of vaccinated citizens participate and thousands win prizes worth HK$43 million in total. We also hosted a charity golf tournament that raised HK$300,000 for the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children, and as well as other smaller-scale CSR events regularly during the year in support of Food Angel, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, Ocean Park Conservation Fund and the Hong Kong Seeing Eye Dog Service. Much of this work was done by our WEC members, who collected more than HK$1.8 million in donations to create care packages for disadvantaged citizens. 

On the business front, we organized around 400 hybrid meetings, seminars and workshops this year, including over 90 training programmes. Not all events were on Zoom, as we also met face to face with several Consuls General and government officials, and recently hosted the annual Hong Kong Business Community Luncheon with the Chief Executive. We also resumed site visits and Happy Hour networking events, and for December we will hold our Christmas Cocktail Reception for members. 

On the lobbying side, your Chamber made submissions to the Government on topics ranging from wildlife crimes to disposable plastic tableware, as well as our annual Policy Address and Budget proposals. Besides our LegCo representative, this year we also nominated members for the Commercial (First) Election Committee, to ensure that the “voice of business” is heard and to help create a better Hong Kong for all.

Our important interaction with high school and university students continued uninterrupted. November saw the launch of the third edition of our Business Case Competition, where around 200 teams of university students tackle real-life business challenges. Other projects for young people included creating 1,600 places for our 160+ Internship Scheme, and our long-running Business-School Partnership Programme had a full calendar of activities. A new initiative was our Pitch Perfect Programme to help students get their careers off to a flying start. 

Despite it being a trying year for us all, 2021 seems to have flown by and we are looking forward to a better 2022. In the Chamber’s Business Prospects Survey, which you can read about on page 16, around half of businesses are expecting business to grow and hiring to increase. 

December is also membership renewal time for many of you: I hope that you have found our services useful in the past year, and we will continue to serve you with our best endeavours. I wish all of our readers a merry Christmas, and look forward to seeing you in person in 2022.

George Leung
[email protected]