Jointly organised by the HKSAR Government, Hong Kong Trade Development Council and Hong Kong Design Centre, BIP Asia Forum brought IP professionals and business leaders from all over the world to discuss the latest developments in the IP world, and to explore business collaboration opportunities.
The sixth edition of the Forum was held on 1-2 December 2016 with great success, featuring over 80 prominent speakers sharing their insights and attracted more than 2,500 IP professionals and industry players to attend. The forum has proven to be an effective platform for attendees to gain better understanding of IP and explore potential business partnership through networking and sharing sessions.
To maximise networking opportunities for participants of BIP Asia Forum, an Exhibition is staged alongside the main conference. In 2016, over 90 exhibitors joined the BIP Exhibition including the World Intellectual Property Organization, international technology corporations, top-tier research centres, universities and IP service providers.
Following its success last year, the BIP Exhibition staged again in 2017, offering you an ideal platform to promote your products and services to over 2,500 participants from all over the world.
HKSAR Chief Executive, the Honourable Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, delivered her Policy Address to the Legislative Council in mid-October 2017.
We were deeply honoured that the Chief Executive had accepted our invitation to talk to the Hong Kong business community at this joint luncheon, which was held on Tuesday, 31 October. Mrs Lam discussed with attendees the reasoning behind on her first Policy Address, and learned more about her initiatives and directives for tackling key issues, such as housing, land supply, labour market, the environment and improving Hong Kong's competitiveness in the year ahead.
About 20 members attended the Council's Annual General Meeting. The Council played its part in keeping members informed about the changing political and economic situation in the Kingdom and the affects of global events on Hong Kong and the Mainland. We also continued to develop ties with other organizations.
Mr. William Chao, Mr. Horst Geicke and Mr. Benjamin Lam were re-elected as Directors for the ensuing year. Simultaneously, Ernst & Young was re-appointed the Council's Honorary Auditors. The current Board of Directors consists of 11 directors:
1) Mr. Bernard Chan, GBS, JP, President of Asia Financial Group
2) Mr. William Chao, Managing Director of Wing Wah Limited
3) Mr. Tom V. Chatjaval, Founder and Chairman & CEO of TVC Management Ltd
4) Mr. Kenneth Gaw, President & Managing Principal of Gaw Capital
5) Mr. Horst Geicke, Chairman and Co-Founder of Pacific Alliance Group, VinaCapital Group
6) M. Clayton T. Hebbard, Consultant of Grant Thornton
7) Dr. Harry Lee, SBS, JP, Managing Director of TAL Apparel Limited
8) Mr. Willy Lin, SBS, JP, Managing Director of Milo's Knitwear (International) Ltd
9) Mr. Raphael Tong, Managing Director of Shanghai Mister Softee Food Products Co Limited
10) Mr. Benjamin Lam, Executive Director & Deputy CEO of Pacific Century Premium Development Ltd
11) Mr. Knattapisit Krutkrongchai, Head of Business Strategy of AIA International Limited
We were honored to have a special guest joining us as our keynote speaker at the luncheon right after our Annual General Meeting, Dr Kobsak Pootrakool.
Dr Kobsak Pootrakool serves as a Vice Minister at Office of Prime Minister of Thailand under the government led by General Prayuth Chan-ocha, Prime minister since January 2016. He also served as the former member of the Constitution Drafting Committee before being appointed as Vice Minister.
Dr Kobsak joined Bangkok Bank in December 2010 as Executive Vice President, International Banking Group. He achieved several projects including banking license approval from the Central Bank of Myanmar in 2015.
From 1996 to 2010, he was a former senior executive with the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). He helped develop and implement monetary policy and financial institution policy, and was Division Executive of the Monetary Policy Strategy Division. He was seconded to the SET from 2008 to 2009 as Senior Vice President (Strategic Planning) and Executive Director of the SET Research Institute for Capital Market.
Dr Kobsak's awards include the Puay Ungpakorn Medal in 2009, given to the best young economist in Thailand. He has published extensively, within Thailand and internationally, and is a frequent media commentator. He holds a PhD in macroeconomics and international economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a BA in mathematics and economics from Williams College.
Dr Kobsak's insight into Thailand's financial and economic situation will be of great interest to all HKTBC members.
The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce (CGCC) was honored to organize the Hong Kong Summit 2017 - Innovating New Ideas - Embracing New Opportunities on 11 July 2017. Being one of the signature events in Hong Kong, it was co-organized with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and fully supported by Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, the Office of Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the HKSAR and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.
Hong Kong Summit had explored how the economic integration of ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea could provide renewed impetus to global economic growth, and how Hong Kong, well-positioned at the doorstep of China, can serve as a platform of collaboration among nations across the region.
Government ministers, entrepreneurs and experts from East Asina countries were invited to speak at the Summit. The valuable insights from the distinguished speakers will enlighten participants on unlocking new business opportunities.
The Zubin Foundation believes that more should be done to include ethnic minorities and non-Chinese individuals into mainstream Hong Kong society. Ethnic minorities bring talent as well as much needed global connections for Hong Kong. Most importantly many if not most, call Hong Kong home and as such deserve to be fully integrated into Hong Kong society.
The Zubin Foundation had sent invitations to all Chief Executive candidates to join the armchair discussion. We hope to understand from them their views of:
Against the backdrop of the findings highlighted in the Status of Ethnic Minority Report, what is the future of ethnic minorities and non-Chinese in Hong Kong?
What they will do specifically to address the sizeable gaps between ethnic minorities and the Chinese population in Hong Kong with respect to all walks of life, including education, economics, welfare, health, and inclusion to positions of leaderships of these individuals.
The Zubin Foundation was organising an armchair discussion with Mrs. Carrie Lam, candidate for the Chief Executive election, on 23 February 2017 on What is the Future for Non-Chinese and Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong. The discussion took place at 7:30pm and moderated by two professors, Prof. Puja Kapai and Prof. Naubahar Sharif. Opening and Closing remarks on the day would done by Ravi Gidumal, co-Founder of The Zubin Foundation. It took place at the Sai Yung Pun Community Centre.
