Helping the young people of Hong Kong is an important part of the Chamber’s work, and we have significantly increased our youth-focused activities recently.  In the past few months, we have been busy wrapping up some of our student programmes for the 2021-22 season. In this issue of The Bulletin, you can read about the finals of three different competitions for third-level students. 

First, our third Business Case Competition is a multi-stage contest, which attracted more than 400 participants tasked with solving a real-life challenge facing corporates in Hong Kong. This year’s theme was “Defining the New Normal,” and the students came up with solutions for business cases created by six sponsor companies on topics including sustainability, emerging technology and the local community. 

We also saw the conclusion of the “Create Smart District in Hong Kong” contest, a new project on the Chamber’s calendar. Helping the city become more efficient and eco-friendly is crucial to maintaining our global competitiveness, so we were delighted to collaborate with the Vocational Training Council and Hong Kong Productivity Council on this programme. Focusing their attentions at the district level, the teams came up with a range of applications to make the city more vibrant and accessible to all.

Another new project for HKGCC was the Pitch Perfect Programme. Organized by our Young Executives Club, this scheme offered training sessions and mentorships to develop students’ skills that will help them get their careers off to a flying start. 

The final stage of each of these programmes took the form of a contest, and I was really impressed by the bright ideas and communication skills that all of the finalists demonstrated. Indeed, all of the participants deserve praise for their commitment to completing the tasks required, especially amid the Covid-related delays.   

Introducing Hong Kong’s young people to the business world has long been a focus for HKGCC. In fact, the Business-School Partnership Programme for high-school students has been a cornerstone of the Chamber’s student community work for more than 20 years. We also cooperate with member companies to arrange internships and positions for new graduates, as well as sponsor scholarships.

The common thread of all these events is connecting the younger generation with the business community and opening their eyes to the wide range of career paths that are available. I hope that the student participants all enjoyed the opportunity to go behind the scenes in the corporate world, and also gained a better understanding of the challenges that businesses face. 

Our student projects could not take place without the member companies who support and sponsor them, and we look forward to working together again when we launch our programmes for the next academic year. With the pandemic situation easing, we are hopeful that study timetables – as well as business operations – will have returned to normal to enable an uninterrupted programme of events next year.

George Leung
[email protected]