1st Day (12th March 2007)

That's me and nessa waiting PATIENTLY for our flight =)

1st Day (12th March 2007)

We touched down at Hong Kong airport safely just in time for lunch. Lunch was simply splendid, guess what we had, 7 dishes altogether, do you have a feeling that this is not just a simple study mission? Yes, we were given at least 7 different dishes for each meal. Yes, I mean each meal; breakfast, lunch, dinner.



That's the airport of Hong Kong



Our first sumptous lunch

After lunch we head off to the Hong Kong Trade Development Council for our very first company visit and to get a better understanding of how business function in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has shown a supreme growth in its economic for the past decade.



Me and nessa just outside the trade development centre --- its really cold out there




quick take one group photo before we frezze out there!

A little brief introduction about Hong Kong:
Hong Kong was described by many as a “barren rock” over 150 years ago. Now it has what it is today has proven these many wrong. It is now heralded as the world’s freest economy and a leading financial, trading and business centre. It is now ranked as the world’s eleventh largest trading economy.

In 1997, after 150 years of British administration Hong Kong became a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China. Hong Kong enjoys a high level f autonomy from the Chinese mainland.

Geography
Hong Kong cover just 1,100 sq km and its divided into four main areas; Hong Kong island, the New Territories, Kowloon and the Outlying Islands. Hong Kong Shares a boundary with one of the China’s fastest-growing manufacturing regions, The Pearl River Delta (We have visited this as well during the 12 days trip).

Political and legal Systems
Under the “One Country, Two Systems” concept negotiated between China and the UK, Hong Kong controls all aspects of its governance, except foreign affairs and defence matters. Hong Kong’s legal system largely follows the British System.

Climate
Subtropical and Seasonal. The Temperature can drop below 10 degrees in winder and exceed 30 degree in summer. We were there during spring, and its temperature was at 11 to 13 degrees. Believe me, four layers of clothes is not enough. And DO bring along all moisturizers and toners – this is an advise to the next batch of students going for this trip if it happens to fall during spring again!

Population
Some 6.9 million people live in Hong Kong. 95% are Hong Kong Chinese, 5% are non-Chinese. Its pretty much crowded and pack. People there are better off as compared to China. When we buy from the stores back in Hong Kong we are always identified as Taiwanese, reason behind was we speak good home language (Guo Yu). The languages used in Hong Kong were basically Chinese (Cantonese) and English are Hong Kong’s official language. During the presentation done by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council it was just done in English.

Infrastructure
Hong Kong has a world-leading infrastructure network. Its airport, consistently recognized as one of the best in the world, has flights to some 100 overseas destinations and more than 40 mainland cities. Its container port and international air cargo operation are the world’s busiest. The public transport network efficiently transports some 11 million passengers a day almost 40,000 vehicles cross between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland each day. We have personally experienced the MTR in Hong Kong and it works just like the MRT we have in Singapore. It even has connections just like what we have in raffles place and city hall. Probably the only difference I can figure out then is the difference in its name. =) Its bus services works differently from those in Singapore. There are big and small ones, it’s a pity we didn’t get to try them as even when we have free time on our own, our best friend is still cab services. Cab services in Hong Kong, the start up price is more expansive then Singapore, its S$3.00.

Other Fast Facts
Hong Kong is a free trade and free market region which has been consistently voted as the world’s freest economy. It has a tax rate as low as 16% on salaries tax; and 17.5% on profit tax. It has a relatively big pool of educated workforce. Its per capita GDP is about US$25,000. It has been also ranked as the third largest stock market in Asia with a stable currency linked to US$.

Hong Kong Trade Development Council
It is setup in 1966; it is a government related organization. This council creates and facilitates opportunities in international trade for Hong Kong. They have actually define SMEs into to two main portion namely; manufacturing and non-manufacturing. It is also customized to match services to business and organize them to get in touch with the right partners. It has a resourceful proprietary database of suppliers and buyers, pre-screened business partners and additional market information can be acquired through its business info center. It also provides appointment services to advise the respective business what to do when they meet with difficulties and guide them through the process of what to do and how to solve the problem.

Customized Business Matching
A team of experienced specialists supports this; their Premier Connect Service puts the business in touch with qualified Hong Kong partners, agents, suppliers and distributors. (premierconnect.tdctrade.com)

Sourcing
Online sourcing solution is being provided by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council at http://sourcing.tdctrade.com. It is a vital service providing free and effective online sourcing of products from Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan. Online Exhibitions are available as well. It allows you to preview exhibits 2 months before trade fairs, book meetings with suppliers in advance, locate the booths of your targeted exhibitors, source products and place enquiries with suppliers even after fairs have ended etc. Free statistical tables are available as well. Under ‘frequently asked statistics’, internet users can keep track of Hong Kong’s latest trade performances, trade services and employment.

TDC Business InfoCentre
The TDC business infoCentre, located in the Hong Kong Convention and exhibition centre extension, is the most resourceful business information centre in Hong Kong. The library itself has a history of over 30 years and its used by 15,00 visitors per month.

The TDC business infocentre houses the largest collection of market and trade information in Hong Kong. It contains more than 40,000 tittles of books, 8,000 periodicals, 500 statistical tables, 160,000 newspaper clippings, 60+ electronic database, a big amount of videos and other facilities are provided as well, such as printing, faxing and internet services free of charge etc.

Information that can be found in the library are basically business contacts, company and industry reports, trade and investment opportunities, world economic environment, overseas market situations, export and import trends, trade and investment regulations, tariffs and taxes, trade fairs and exhibitions and statistics.

For ease of research to be done and to save time, the business infocentre is equipped with a modern on-line catalogue system, to assist users in finding the right information within a short period of time span.

It has basically anything you can ask for to start up a business, examples of such are electronic data center, multimedia resources, china trade and investment resource centre, creative industries collection, special collections, TDC bookshop, business advisory services as mentioned earlier, and business facilities provided for free such as photocopying machines, fax machine, printers etc.

From the presentation, we also understand that this is not the only council available in Hong Kong. There are actually competitors being setup around Hong Kong already, providing the same services. After companies has been successfully setup, the TDC will continuously give support and guidance to them to ensure a smooth and profitable setup. Dinners, lunch, mission fairs are also created to provide business partners a platform to get to know suppliers and manufactures better.

Here is some photos taken during our visit






After the visit at TDC we headed off for our sumptuous spread of dinner once again. It was again a spread of 8 dishes. We had our stomach filled to the brim. Yummy! After dinner we had head off to the night markets to do some market research. We did come back with some little rewards of course. On our way back, it’s when we experience how MTR in Hong Kong works as well. After which we had all tug in to the “stone” made beds in west hotel to prepare ourselves for tomorrow’s busy day. Next stop, Shenzhen.