biz.hk Nov 2013

20 13 ’s

“A DV AN G CE UID D E ED TO UC AT IO N

Journal of The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

www.amcham.org.hk

November 2013

COVER SPONSOR

”

THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN HONG KONG

Presents

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November 2013

Contents

Vol 45 No 11 Richard R Vuylsteke

Editor-in-Chief Daniel Kwan

Managing Editor Kenny Lau

Advertising Sales Manager

14

08

Publisher

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20

COVER STORY

ENTREPRENEURS/SME

ENVIRONMENT

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE

Nicholas Brooke, Chairman of the Harbourfront Comission, in charge of a public consultation on the proposed establishment of a new Harbourfront Authority, explains the objectives and importance of the new statutory body for the future development of Hong Kong’s waterfront

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt announcing a program for young entrepreneurs in Hong Kong speaks about entrepreneurship as a driving force for innovation and change in a world where growth will become more difficult to maintain

Dr Gayle Hagler, an environmental engineer with US Environmental Protection Agency and a former research fellow for HKEPD and Civic Exchange, presents detailed information on air quality in the US and around the PRD

This year celebrates the 10th anniversary of the WOI Conference & Awards inaugurated in 2003 to recognize achievement of outstanding professional women and men as champion for the advancement of women

Regina Leung

biz.hk is a monthly magazine of news and views for management executives and members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Its contents are independent and do not necessarily reflect the views of officers, governors or members of the Chamber.

Advertising office 1904 Bank of America Tower 12 Harcourt Rd, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2530 6900 Fax: (852) 2537 1682 Email: amcham@amcham.org.hk Website: www.amcham.org.hk Printed by Ease Max Ltd 2A Sum Lung Industrial Building 11 Sun Yip St, Chai Wan, Hong Kong (Green Production Overseas Group) Designed by Overa Creative Co Unit 1613, 16/F Workingbond Commercial Centre 162 Prince Edward Road West, Kowloon ©The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, 2013 Library of Congress: LC 98-645652 For comments, please send to biz.hk@amcham.org.hk Single copy price HK$50 Annual subscription HK$600/US$90

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AMCHAM NEWS AND VIEWS

TAXATION 18 The US Tax Form You Can’t Afford to Miss

04 Editorial The issue of income inequality is acute in Hong Kong, yet it is also a generous society with a rich culture of giving to the poor and needy. As we approach the end of the year, let’s not forget that it is more blessed to give than to receive as we prepare for a season of celebration

Deputy Tax Managing Partner Patrick Yip of Deloitte gives practical advice on filing for various IRS tax forms required of US taxpayers including those introduced by recent legislations

ENVIRONMENT

07 New Business Contacts 34 executives joined AmCham’s business network last month

20 Air Quality at a Glance Dr Gayle Hagler, an environmental engineer with US Environmental Protection Agency and a former research fellow for HKEPD, presents detailed information on air quality in the US and around the PRD

44 Mark Your Calendar

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE

COVER STORY 08 Grasp the Opportunity: Public Consultation for a New Harbourfront Nicholas Brooke, Chairman of the Harbourfront Comission, in charge of a public consultation on the proposed establishment of a new Harbourfront Authority, explains the objectives and importance of a new statutory body

ENTREPRENEURS/SME 14 Google Launches Program to Help Young Entrepreneurs in Hong Kong Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt speaks about entrepreneurship as a driving force for innovation and change in a world where growth will become more difficult to maintain

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24 Women of Influence: A Decade of Recognition This year celebrates the 10th anniversary of the WOI Conference & Awards inaugurated in 2003 to recognize achievement of outstanding professional women and men as champion for the advancement of women

26 A Journey of a Thousand Miles Dr Rebecca Lee Lok-sze as the world’s first woman explorer to reach the North Pole, South Pole and Mount Everest multiple times stresses the importance of environmental protection through her writing and photography

28 Never Give Up Jing Ulrich, a business leader and a role model, speaks on the rise of China and women leaders in Asia in a keynote address at the annual AmCham-SCMP WOI Conference

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30 Panel Discussion A group of highly accomplished business executives discuss the issue of gender diversity in the workplace through sharing stories from a personal and corporate perspective and highlight key elements in promotion of women leaders

WOI AWARDS 33 Best Company For Women: Citi Hong Kong 34 Champion for the Advancement of Women: Hayden Majajas 35 Entrepreneur of the Year: Debra Meiburg 36 Leading Woman on Boards: Laura Cha 37 Master in Charity: Kylie Uebergang 38 Professional of the Year: Teresa Ko

SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT 40 8th Annual AmCham Golf Open AmCham’s Sports & Entertainment Committee hosts an annual event where golfers play in teams of four in a fun-filled half-day outing in support of AmCham Charitable Foundation

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COVER SPONSOR

biz.hk Editorial

Board of Governors Chairman James Sun Vice Chairman Peter Levesque Treasurer Tom Burns Executive Committee Evan Auyang, Janet De Silva, Anita Leung Philip Leung, Belinda Lui, Alan Turley Richard Weisman Governors Sara Yang Bosco, Brian Brenner, Ewan Copeland Walter Dias, Rob Glucksman, Toby Marion Thomas Nelson, Catherine Simmons Colin Tam, Elizabeth L Thomson Frank Wong, Eden Woon Ex-Officio Governor President

Robert Chipman Richard R Vuylsteke

Chamber Committees AmCham Ball Apparel & Footwear China Business Communications & Marketing

Rex Engelking Colin Browne Seth Peterson Lili Zheng Roxana Daver

Corporate Social Responsibility

Robert Grieves

Energy Entrepreneurs/SME Environment

Rick Truscott Donald Austin Courtney Davies Corey Franklin Brock Wilson Veronica Sze Damien Lee Peter Liu

Financial Services Food & Beverage Hospitality & Tourism Human Capital Information & Communications Technology Insurance & Healthcare

Rex Engelking

Owen Belman Hanif Kanji Intellectual Property Gabriela Kennedy Amy Lee Law Clara Ingen-Housz Pharmaceutical Stephen Leung Real Estate Neil Anderson Alan Seigrist Senior Financial Forum Alvin Miyasato Senior HR Forum Jacqueline Algar Sports & Entertainment Ian Stirling Taxation David Weisner Trade & Investment Patrick Wu Transportation & Logistics Jared Zerbe Women of Influence Anne-Marie Balfe Anna-Marie C Slot Young Professionals Alison Carroll

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THE SEASON OF GIVING

W

ide income inequality is rarely a good thing.

Although some economists do argue that a healthy dose of inequality helps drive growth and investment, an unbridgeable gap between the rich and the poor is destabilizing for society and makes growth unsustainable. More importantly, there are enough “super poor” in the world today that it’s simply become indefensible for the “super rich” to adopt a see-no-evil attitude.

The issue of income inequality is acute in Hong Kong. It is a fact that Hong Kong has become a more unequal city over the past decade.

According to the Census and Statistics Department, the city’s Gini coefficient – an index from 0 to 1 that measures the wealth gap – rose to 0.537, up from 0.525 in 2001. What this means is the income gap in Hong Kong has surpassed that of Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

Xinhua last year reported that China’s

Gini coefficient stood at 0.474 in 2012 – “trailing” Hong Kong by a big margin.

When the Government announced Hong Kong’s first official measure of poverty last September, it also published its estimates of how many people lived below the poverty line – 1.3 million or 19.6 percent of the population. Such figures fly in the face of the city’s reputation of being Asia’s World City. Hong Kong needs to be reminded that behind the glamour of economic success much needs to be done in building a first-class city of the 21st century: a place where people – rich and poor, Chinese and foreign, educated and not educated – can live and work cooperatively and constructively together. To that end, we anticipate concrete poverty alleviation measures will be announced by the Chief Executive in his policy address in January.

Hong Kong is a generous society.

While good deeds don’t necessarily turn up as news headlines every day, the city is blessed by a rich culture of giving to the poor. In the past, local

biz.hk 11 • 2013

businesses often preferred a low-key approach in helping the poor and the majority didn’t even care if their actions were through philanthropies or corporate social responsibility. In fact, more often than not donations were made by “anonymous” donors because the individuals or companies just preferred it that way.

Today, a bit of publicity, or information sharing, about good Samaritans should help. In addition to being one of the world’s top financial centers, Hong Kong can also play another role – promotion of best practices. Being good corporate citizens are certainly one attribute that successful businesses should not be shy to talk about.

We are now close to the season of giving. While we prepare for the seasonal celebrations, let’s not forget that it is more blessed to give than to receive. And we should not just look locally. Recent tragedies - such as what’s happened in the Philippines – should again remind us how fortunate we are to live in a city like Hong Kong.

biz.hk 11 • 2013

5

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biz.hk 11 • 2013

7

COVER STORY

Nicholas Brooke

any public policies for m in e tiv ac en be s ha nt Commission, arbourfront ishment of a new H an of the Harbourfro bl ta irm es ha C ed , os ke op oo pr Br e Nicholas with biz.hk nsultation on th rheading a public co body in an interview ea ed sp os w op no pr is e e th H of s. e ar nc ye d importa ns the objectives an Authority. He explai

By Daniel Kwan

Photo: Brian Pr

8

oduction Ltd

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A

s far as connectivity is concerned, Hong Kong is world-class. Our airport is among the world’s best.

Our subway is widely admired by other metropolises and its experience copied all over the world. Crossing border and getting through immigration? No comparison. Hong Kong can easily claim to have one of the most efficient and user-friendly systems among all cities.

Few people will challenge the notion of a wellconnected city that is Hong Kong.

But if one is to ask: How connected are we with our waterfront? Alas, the answer is not so good.

When was your last (or first) time to ride a bike along the harbourfront? Or just to walk your dog by the harbour after a long day of work? Have a nice meal with your close friends at a harbourside outdoor restaurant? Or simply enjoy the harbour as you wish?

One would expect such activities are the natural benefits of any harbour cities. Anyone who has lived in Hong Kong long enough would tend to agree that the city has lived separately – if not completely isolated – from its harbour for quite some time. For

much of the past 10 to 20 years, our waterfront has been basically a gigantic construction site. A law was passed more than a decade ago to stop reclamation in the Victoria Harbour but construction along both sides of the waterfront has never stopped. Every day, there are more lorries, cement mixers and towering cranes passing through the waterfront than there are sail boats and water bikes.

One central piece of all these infrastructure projects is the Central-Wan Chai Bypass. According to the Highways Department, the expressway will shorten travel time between Central and North Point to five minutes when it is commissioned in 2017. As all these projects approach completion, an obvious question emerges: What to do with the large tracts of land when it becomes available in those areas, and who’s going to manage them, and how? Just do as we always have? Please, no.

Public views The Government has started a three-month consultation in October aiming to gauge public opinions on the issue. Under the auspice of the Harbourfront Commission, the consultation basically asks two important questions: Should a new Harbourfront Authority be set up to take charge of the waterfront? If the answer is yes, then what kind of authority do you want?

“One of the aspirations that I have for the new authority is that we’ll move from a ‘can’t do’ to a ‘can do’ model. So you can walk your dog, ride a bike, and you can fish [along the waterfront].”

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biz.hk 11 • 2013

waterfront in the past decade. He however frankly Nicholas Brooke, Chairman of Harbourfront admits that the current system is not working if Commission, says the first phase of the consultation “creative solutions” are what we need in building our is designed to set a direction and then the next phase waterfront. will commence early next year. If everything goes “There is a roadblock – if you like – from a smoothly, he anticipates the new authority can be up delivery perspective,” he says. “We’ve got a situation and running as early as 2015. where no less than 11 government departments have “One of the aspirations that I have for the new an involvement in terms of waterfront. You’ve got authority is that we’ll move from a ‘can’t do’ to a ‘can nine district councils – all understandably believe do’ model. So you can walk your dog, ride a bike, and their waterfront is very you can fish [along the important. So you’ve got a waterfront],” says Brooke. very fragmented situation.”

“One of the advantages – if “So the system now is you have [a Harbourfront] such that it really doesn’t Authority – is that it can have allow what I would describe its own bylaws … and it can as a holistic approach. They decide, for example, that we need to come up with a don’t have railings along the comprehensive solution,” he waterfront but instead steps adds. going down into the water.”

After taking part in a series of public forums in the past two months, Brooke Assuming the majority says he has a strong sense Key harbourfront sites that will be available from agrees that a new authority is that there is widespread 2016 onwards needed, then what will be support for a new authority. this new approach? Accord“We’ve discussed with ing to Brooke, it should be a statutory body entrusted political parties, and have been to the Legislative to take charge of the planning, design, implementaCouncil and met with district councils. In terms of tion, operation and management of the whole waterthe overall direction, I think there is very strong front – all 73 kilometers of it. “It will be very different support. Understandably, people want to know more from the current model,” he says. about what the authority will do, who will sit on it, and For example, sites along the waterfront will be who will be the chairman, etc. Those are the sorts of vested in with the proposed body which will be able details we will go into in phase two of the consultation.” to grant leases to private operators to run various Brooke, who took the helm of the Harbourfront facilities along the waterfront. Partnership with the Commission in July 2010 when it was established, private sector is clearly one of the options being says a lot has been done to enhance and improve the considered.

“This is exactly what we envisage. We will grant a long lease to business operators, and they will build and operate the business facilities and there will be some shared revenue between the authority and business operators,” Brooke says.

“One of the things that we are very conscious of is the need for a balance between social and commercial [interests]. No way do we want to see the man-on-the-street – if you like – being out-priced, and no way do we want to see too many expensive facilities on the waterfront. We will need to cater to all types of groups – both domestic and tourism,” he adds.

Brooke stresses that the authority will not Information about the consultation become a revenue-driven land developer. “The first exercise is available at: www.hfc.org.hk . thing that we all agree on and will be written into the Phase 1 of the consultation ends on January 4, 2014. document is that the authority will not be able to sell land. Yes, [land] will be vested in it and [the authority] will remain responsible for those land. Yes, it can

A new model

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11

grant leases to appropriate operators but there is no way that it can embark on development,” he says.

Still, that should present enormous opportunity for anyone who wants to see a vibrant and full-of-life Victoria Harbour. What scale we are talking about?

The government now owns 70 percent of the 73-km long harbourfront.

“This is unheard of in any other jurisdictions. In other jurisdictions, most have been sold off or parceled away. Again, we have a unique opportunity.

If you look at the area from the Central piers right through to Wan Chai and down to Causeway Bay, you are looking at 7-km run of waterfront. Now, the initial phase will not be all seven kilometers but two to three kilometers of waterfront running from the piers to the Convention Center in Wan Chai first,” Brooke explains.

Build trust and engage The potential is clear especially taking into account of the strong demand for space in Central and Wan Chai areas. But Brooke says he is aware of the challenges in making the proposed authority a reality. Top on the list of obstacles is to build trust with the community.

“The authorities would need to gain and hold the trust of the community, and deliver what the community thinks are right for the waterfront. The mission and vision, and how you make it accountable in second phase [of the consultation] will be very important. Without that trust and accountability, I sense that it will be very difficult for the new authority. At the end of the day, any authority is only as good as the people who are driving it. So the choice of the board, the CEO and the team who work under him will be very important,” he stresses.

For exactly the same reason, Brooke urges the business community to actively participate in the consultation and offer suggestions about how to build a vibrant and lively waterfront for Hong Kong.

“Businesses should care because I think the harbour is important to Hong Kong. It has an impact on the whole business community. It’s all about coming up with a sustainable future for Hong Kong.

Having an attractive and vibrant waterfront is part of that sustainable future,” he says.

Using al fresco dining as an example, Brooke says armed with its own bylaws, the proposed harbourfront authority can help cut through the red tape and bureaucratic hurdles and make outdoor dining far more feasible and accessible in Hong Kong.

“Al fresco dining is an obvious area where we need to bring about change. If a waterfront authority has its own by-laws and regulations, then there

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should be nothing to prevent al fresco dining as we see in many other cities around the world. The constraints of the present system make it very difficult. We anticipate that with an authority, there will be more freedom and opportunities,” he says.

“We will obviously be engaging with the business community in terms of solutions for the waterfront … there is no way that the authority is going to build and run its own restaurants. That’s not its skill sets and it won’t be appropriate. So this is where you provide a partnership opportunity with the private sector and the private sector provides the facilities,” he adds.

But none of that will happen if businesses stay quiet and choose not to get involved. In fact, Brooke warns that the opportunity available now won’t happen again and land such as those over the Central-Wan Chai Bypass simply will be too good to miss.

“Essentially the waterfront has been a building site for the last 15 or 20 years, it is now reaching settled state. This is the time we should grasp the opportunity. This is what this is all about – grasp the opportunity,” he urges.

in terms of the harbour and in terms of innovation and technology, the science park. [I will] live in Hong Kong and make Hong Kong a better place,” says the old Hong Kong hand.

After having been in Hong Kong for over 40 years, Brooke says he has a lot of faith in the city’s future despite many challenges.

“I believed – as I still believe very strongly – that innovation and entrepreneurship is part of Hong Kong’s DNA. Yes, to some extent that it may have been pushed back a little but I still think there is a huge opportunity in Hong Kong for anyone who is entrepreneurial or innovative. Those opportunities are still here. Maybe not as easy and they may have become more complicated. But I still have a great deal of faith in Hong Kong,” he says.

Faith Brooke who is also Chairman of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation sees the city as his home and is willing to continue his contribution to the society after retirement – if he ever does retire.

“As you probably gather that I care passionately about Hong Kong. Hong Kong is very much my home. I would stay here and continue to contribute,

“I believed – as I still believe very strongly – that innovation and entrepreneurship is part of Hong Kong’s DNA. Yes, to some extent that it may have been pushed back a little but I still think there is a huge opportunity in Hong Kong for anyone who is entrepreneurial or innovative.”

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ENTREPRENEURS/SME

G

Eric Schmidt

Google Launches Program to Help Young Entrepreneurs in Hong Kong

By Kenny Lau

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oogle has announced a partnership with Chinese University of Hong Kong for a program aiming to nurture local students and young entrepreneurs and to bring them closer to the global business community through incubation and mentorship as well as efforts to help overcome challenges associated with starting up of an entrepreneurship.

“Our goal with this program will be to help sustain and enhance that culture, enabling the next generation of digital innovators in Hong Kong,” Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said, speaking at the event “Connecting with the World: Empowering Young Entrepreneurs for the New Digital Age” held at CUHK in Shatin last month. (see box) “Hong Kong has been one of history’s most successful incubators for entrepreneurs and a place where you see an underlying culture of entrepreneurship,” Schmidt says. “In many ways Hong Kong is proof that the Internet is not a distraction. In fact, it is fundamental as six percent of Hong Kong’s economy was directly related to the Internet in 2010.”

Hong Kong is also an “excellent place” to do business and is supported with a sophisticated telecom infrastructure, he notes. “Everybody has their phones and connectivity. If there is a business left here which doesn’t use the Internet for something as simple as a Website to sell a product, it is likely to be small and will get smaller because there is a business next to it using the Internet.”

“Again, this is an easy place to do business, and the Internet makes it possible,” he adds. “What I’d like to see here is an environment where you have coaches and mentors helping entrepreneurs navigate the problems of growth and assisting a generation of young people realize their dreams.”

Despite a myth that entrepreneurs work by themselves, there is an eco system of experts to whom they can turn to for advice and help, Schmidt points out. “And, it has never been cheaper to start up a company than today.”

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Gists of One-year Joint Program between Chinese University and Google: • An incubation and mentorship program to give local entrepreneurs access to mentors that can often be hard to reach in Hong Kong; • A sponsored trip for outstanding program participants to Google headquarters in Mountain View, US to meet and connect with experts in the global community; and • Efforts to help young entrepreneurs overcome initial startup challenges such as high rental costs and a fragmented entrepreneurship community.

Why entrepreneurship?

Ambition

Schmidt strongly believes in the power of entrepreneurship because it drives innovation and change in a world where growth will become more difficult to maintain amid “brutal” competition. The answer to the question of future growth will lie in entrepreneurship, he believes.

“I have concluded that entrepreneurship is the solution to every problem in the world,” he says.

“We’ve had young people right out of college founding companies like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, you name it. We have many examples where entrepreneurship makes a difference.”

Entrepreneurs often have a different mindset than those in a corporate setting, Schmidt points out. “In my case, being a computer programmer, which is what I am, and an entrepreneur, which is what I have always wanted to be, are the two most exciting things you can do. Programmers think in terms of scale and impact, and entrepreneurs think about what’s possible as dreamers and visionaries.”

The mantra of “thinking globally and acting locally” is also becoming less relevant because “you not only have to operate locally but also globally at the same time,” he adds. “Entrepreneurs here will never do something only for Hong Kong but they will do everything for Greater China.”

In the early days of Google, it started as a small Web search engine and has since expanded to become a multinational Internet services giant which now registers each day over 1 billion search requests and 24 petabytes of usergenerated data. “When I first joined Google [more than a decade ago], we estimated that it would take 300 years to achieve our mission of being a platform for all of the world’s information,” Schmidt recalls. “And I said it was a lot of information.”

“Every startup business has the same problem whether you are in Hong Kong or Silicon Valley,” he says. “What I learned is that you want to be able to articulate what you are going to do in a way that is much broader than you’ve done before. The reason is you want to believe in a broader mission, yet we are sometimes not thinking big enough.”

In the case of Calico, a new collaboration effort of which Google is a part on the issue of human health and well-being, “we set a very broad goal which is to deal with the challenge of aging and associated diseases,” Schmidt cites in an example. “To solve a real problem, you need to think big and find a solution that is meaningful and then you grow from there. This is a formula of how all technology has evolved.”

“Every single person is in favor of our project, and what you want is for us to be successful before you are dead,”

15

Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, in a panel discussion with four of CUHK students and alumni: Melody Mui (first from left), Stary Chen (second from left), Kevin Chan (third from left), and Stark Chan (second from right). The discussion was moderated by Lorraine Hahn (first from right), a former CNN anchor.

he says of the new initiative. “This is how entrepreneurship works. You start with something and it grows fast – just look at the size of eBay, PayPal or Wal-mart.”

“And, I don’t think people are becoming lazy as a result of technology.

They are curious and their behavior changes,” Schmidt says of an evolving trend. “My parents said this about me and television 50 years ago: Little Eric watches TV all day and never accomplishes much. Somehow we got through it and we did pretty well, and you will survive all of those things.”

Instead, it is a somewhat different problem of today - the notion that young people find the industrial structures of corporations boring, he adds. “They now live in a very rich environment of interaction and ideas that many become frustrated in a tradition setting. The cure to boredom is creativity and engagement, and many will start up a company because they want to accomplish their own things.”

16

The key One of the keys to success as an entrepreneur is learning through failure.

“I would say it is important that young entrepreneurs be allowed to fail,” Schmidt stresses. “You learn much more from failure than you do from success because it is harder and because you have to own it and have to deal with it. When things are easy, you never really learn how to make the hard decision.

“The trick is to fail quickly. If you spend 10 years doing what you do without success and use up all of your investors’ money, it is a very different situation and you are now older.”

The educational system is profoundly important in nurturing young entrepreneurs of tomorrow, Schmidt believes, noting Google also began as a research project of two students at Stanford University. “What universities do particularly well is to allow people to think out of the box and in a context. It is

a constant flow of smart people as universities generate them once a year.”

“The best government in the world will want more entrepreneurs and more innovation,” Schmidt points out. “Government policy does matter as they can encourage research and development to create new industries, to discover the next cure for a disease or to make use of energy in a more efficient way.”

“The most valuable asset of a government is in fact its people and their creativity,” he says. “And I urge Hong Kong to create a larger software industry.

You have many other good industries but you want to be more than that. A lack of software and computer science startups may hurt you in the long run in terms of your global ambitions.”

“As an entrepreneur you have a unique skill of seeing things. It is about your leadership and motivation that comes from you,” Schmidt concludes. “This is very real because people are very quick in sensing manipulation. You have to be very truthful and passionate about what you.”

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17

TAXATION

The US Tax Form You Cannot Afford to Miss Byy Patrick Yip

K

eeping up with new forms issued by the IRS is almost like keeping up with the latest in Apps. But the main difference is this: you can ignore many Apps updates with little or no consequence; but if you overlook a new IRS form which you need to file, you do so at your peril.

One such “easy to overlook” form, to many, could be Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets, which forms part of the regular Form 1040. Who needs to file? Basically, as the name of the form indicates, a US taxpayer, generally a US citizen or resident, who owns certain “specified foreign financial assets” would need to file. You must be thinking – isn’t this what Form TDF

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holders who are US persons. The FATCA requirements applicable to FFIs and Form 8938 can be seen as complementary to one another in achieving the IRS’s objective to combat tax evasion by US taxpayers holding financial assets overseas.

Form 8938 became effective starting from the 2011 taxable year.

Failure to disclose the information required on Form 8938 could be subject to a penalty of up to US$10,000 and an additional penalty of US$10,000 for each 30 days of non-filing after the IRS issued a notice of a failure to file to the taxpayer. The potential maximum penalty would be US$60,000. In addition, criminal penalties may also apply.

It is generally believed that the IRS would likely compare the information reported on Form 8938 with the information reported by FFIs under FATCA. Although Form 8938 is only required for individuals who meet the reporting requirements, the IRS anticipates issuing regulations requiring US domestic entities to file Form 8938 as well in the near future.

Speaking of corporations, a CFO of a foreign company (for that matter, any corporate officer who has bank account signatory authority for the company) who is a US taxpayer may be required to report on his own FBAR the foreign financial accounts owned by the company if certain conditions are met (eg depending on the number of foreign financial accounts over which he/she has a signature authority). So CFOs, beware!

Given the complexity of the US tax rules involving foreign income and assets, fulfilling the filing requirements (relating to FBAR and Form 8938) may only be the first step in discharging one’s tax obligations. For example, if you executed a short sale, wash sale or straddle on a foreign stock exchange (for which transaction, no Form 1099 would be issued), how should this transaction be properly accounted for and reported in your tax return, even though the financial assets relating to this transaction have been properly reported in FBAR and Form 8938? Therefore, professional help should be sought and should be done so well in advance of April 15.

Patrick Yip

Editor’s note: Patrick Yip is the Deputy Tax Managing Partner of Deloitte China. His colleagues, Ellen Tong and Judy Xie, also contributed to this article.

COMPARISON BETWEEN FORM 8938 AND FBAR 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank Account and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”) does? Unfortunately, the two forms are different.

What are “specified foreign financial assets?” Clearly this term covers a lot more than just cash sitting in a bank account (which by and large is what FBAR is targeted at), eg, foreign brokerage accounts, stock or securities of a foreign company, interests in foreign retirement plans (think Hong Kong’s MPF!), etc.

The objective that FBAR is trying to achieve is different from that of Form 8938. FBAR is primarily an information gathering mechanism, as part of the IRS Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) Program, to combat bank-related crimes such as money laundering. On the other hand, Form 8938 is aimed at

ensuring individuals, who own foreign financial assets would report income from such assets, ie, it is focused on tax evasion. Unlike FBAR which is filed separately with the Treasury Department, Form 8938 forms part of the individual income tax return with reference to other forms/schedules of the return where the income arising from the specified foreign financial assets is reported.

Moreover, Form 8938 is considered a part of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) initiative launched in 2010. FATCA targets tax non-compliance by US taxpayers with foreign accounts at foreign financial institutions (“FFIs”). Under FATCA, FFIs are subject to reporting, withholding and due diligence requirements concerning account

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Form 8938

FBAR

Specified individuals, which include US citizens, resident aliens, and certain non-resident aliens that have an interest in specified foreign financial assets and meet the reporting threshold

US persons, which include US citizens, resident aliens, trusts, estates, and domestic entities that have an interest in foreign financial accounts and meet the reporting threshold

US$50,000 on the last day of the tax year or $75,000 at any time during the tax year (higher threshold amounts apply to married individuals filing jointly and individuals living abroad)

US$10,000 at any time during the calendar year

What is Reported?

Maximum value of specified foreign financial assets, which include financial accounts with foreign financial institutions and certain other foreign non-account investment assets

Maximum value of financial accounts maintained by a financial institution physically located in a foreign country

When Due?

By due date, including extension, if any, for income tax return

Received by June 30 (no extensions of time granted)

Penalties

Up to US$10,000 for failure to disclose and an additional $10,000 for each 30 days of non-filing after IRS notice of a failure to disclose, for a potential maximum penalty of $60,000; criminal penalties may also apply

If non-willful, up to US$10,000; if willful, up to the greater of $100,000 or 50 percent of account balances; criminal penalties may also apply

Who Must File

Reporting Threshold (Total Value of Assets)

Source: IRS

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19

ENVIRONMENT

AT A GLANCE Dr Gayle Hagler, an environmental engineer with US Environmental Protection Agency and a former research fellow for HK Environmental Protection Department and NGO Civic Exchange, presents detailed information on air quality in the US and around the PRD

By Kenny Lau

In the US In EPA’s comparison of economic growth areas and emissions in the US

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between 1980 and 2012, aggregate emissions of six common pollutants had fallen by 67 percent, despite an increase by 92 percent in total vehicle miles traveled, a population growth of 38 percent and a 19-percent rise in energy consumption.

The six common air pollutants under regulation in EPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (which came from the Clean Air Act of 1990) are: Ozone, Carbon Monoxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Lead and Particulate Matters.

Each of the above is attributed to significant effects on human health, including premature death in people with heart or lung disease, nonfatal heart attacks, irregular heartbeat, aggravated asthma, reduction of oxygen-carrying capacity of blood and neurological effects.

“The US has had overall success in lowering the level of air pollution,” says Hagler. “However, ongoing challenges in some areas remain,” including an increase of carbon dioxide emissions during the same period. Moreover, parts of the US population live in areas where concentrations of PMs, sulfur dioxide and ozone remain at levels considered unhealthy according to EPA’s NAAQS. Most air pollutants as a concern for human health such as particulate matters (PMs), when emitted, usually stay in the air for only about a week but may vary due to meteorology and geography, Hagler points out. “If you constantly emit pollutants into the air, then the level of pollution very likely will stay high; if you are able to make a change, then you should see an improvement very quickly.

With emission improvement strategies, you do see results.”

“An issue equally critical is climate change, because emissions like carbon dioxide can stay in the atmosphere for over a hundred years,” she adds. “You won’t see a fast change as there has been an accumulation over time. That’s where I have more of a concern for the future and where it is a problem more difficult to solve.”

“Right now, there aren’t any technologies ready to solve the problem quickly, and it will take some significant changes and

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Air Quality Trends in the PRD region SO2 % change (base year, 2006)

AIR QUALITY

T

he infamous story of the industrial town of Donora, Pennsylvania in October 1948 marked “one of the worst air pollution disasters in [US] history,” in which a wall of thick, yellowish smog (made worse as a result of pollutants being trapped in an inversion of warm air above and cold air below) in five days killed 20 people and made over 7,000 people (about half of the town’s population) ill, while mortality rates in the following ten years became much higher than those of nearby areas.

The incident had brought about much awareness that air pollution can often times be extremely fatal as autopsies at the time indicated a deadly level of poisonous chemicals in victims. What followed was a call to protect the public from exposure to air pollution through regulation and enforcement, a mandate from which the Clean Air Act of 1970 came as a result, requiring the US Environmental Protection Agency to monitor and regulate emission of harmful materials.

“Air quality has been a concern for a long time,” notes Dr Gayle Hagler, an environmental engineer in the US EPA Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Laboratory, Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division (APPCD), Emissions Characterization & Prevention Branch (ECPB), speaking at a recent AmCham luncheon.

Hagler has focused her research on roadside air pollution, including characterization of vehicular emissions, field monitoring instrumentation development, and assessing mitigation opportunities.

NO2

PM10

PM2.5

O3

60% 40% 20% 0% -20%

Note: Base year (2006) concentration(mg/m3): SO2 - 0.047 NO2 - 0.046 PM10 - 0.074 PM2.5 - 0.044 O3 - 0.048

-40% -60%

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

year

Source: Science-policy interplay: Air quality management in the Pearl River Delta region and Hong Kong

innovative thinking to determine how to reduce carbon emissions,” she says.

In the PRD The problem of air pollution is also apparent – and has been quite severe in some cases – in the Pearl River Delta region, of which Hong Kong is a part.

From 2000 and on, electricity consumption and personal vehicle use have nearly tripled in the PRD area, notes Hagler (who as a graduate student of Georgia Tech in 2002 participated in the Hong Kong and PRD Pilot Air Monitoring Project, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department and the NGO Civic Exchange).

The PRD is also unique in that polluted air (which would normally rise into higher elevation as ground surface or land heats up through sunlight) cannot easily disperse as it gets trapped in a land-sea breeze circulation where it cools and sinks.

“If you look from satellite images, you can see an increase of PM concentration in the region between 2000 and 2008,” Hagler points out. “However, there has been an improvement in the past few years as shown in an air pollution measurement benchmarked against 2006, with the exception of ozone which is very complex and a challenge.”

Ground-level or “bad” ozone (O3) is the primary constituent of smog and is the most complex, difficult to control, and pervasive of the six major air pollutants, Hagler notes. It has been shown that exposure to ozone for even a few hours at a low level “significantly reduces lung function and induces respiratory inflammation in normal, healthy people during periods of moderate exercise,” according to EPA. Unlike other pollutants, ozone is not emitted directly into the air, but is created by chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of heat and sunlight. Common sources of NOx and VOC include gasoline vapors, chemical solvents, motor vehicle exhaust and emissions of industrial facilities and electric utilities.

“Although the levels of pollutants in the PRD region might still be high, we do see a trend indicating that things seem to be improving,” Hagler says. “The future of air quality in the PRD will depend on initiatives to improve on local emissions and an emphasis on regional cooperation.”

“Here in Hong Kong, we can greatly improve people’s health by reducing local exposure to air pollutants and by collaborating with Guangdong to reduce pollution on a regional scale,” she adds. “If we can engineer skyscrapers upon steep terrain, surely clear skies are within reach.”

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MONITORING AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL Dr Gayle Hagler, EPA co-lead for the “Village Green” project, talks about a low-cost, low-maintenance sensor system developed to provide real-time data on air quality

biz.hk: Can you share with us the ideas behind the “Village Green” project?

Hagler: In historic New England towns, a village green is a public green space in the center of a town where people gather for recreation and community events. With the Village Green project, we are designing an air monitoring system that would fit well in these types of public environment.

The Village Green project is now a little over a year and a half old here at EPA. The concept behind the project is to develop a lower-cost way of collecting air pollution data for communities, and we are very much interested in being able to see air pollution trends at a more local scale. This is not a regulatory air monitoring station but a station for research and educational purposes in a community.

The idea is to design an air pollution sensor system to test the viability of low-cost sustainable technologies for measuring air quality and to engage the public on environmental issues by providing real-time data on air quality. biz.hk: What is involved in the process?

Hagler: We designed a sensor system that is a part of the overall structure of a bench in a public park. It is entirely powered by solar panels built as a roof structure of the bench. Readings of particulate matters and ozone as well as meteorological data are transmitted wirelessly to an Internet platform where the public can see the data on a Website.

A Quick Response (QR) smartphone-scannable barcode and a web address are also located on display panels on the bench housing the monitor, and it allows the public to have immediate, continuous access to current environmental conditions.

Our first station, a prototype, has been operating since June 2013 outside a public library in Durham, North

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Carolina, and you can log onto villagegreen.epa.gov and see the data which are updated every minute. A limitation of the station is that it may go offline for a few hours when the solar panels don’t receive enough sunlight. It will automatically re-start once there is enough sunlight to recharge the batteries.

Gayle Hagler

Students can tie many academic areas to a project similar to Village Green.

http://villagegreen.epa.gov/

biz.hk: What’s your impression about community involvement and education of air quality in Hong Kong?

Hagler: When I visited students in Hong Kong and Macau, they were very interested in learning more about air pollution, and I often had many questions from students and teachers whenever I gave a presentation. Some even asked about the possibility of follow-up activities such as setting up a monitor station in their school, and I pointed to some resources to help them with their educational activities.

The students really liked some of the activities we have done, and I actually had different schools going through the whole process of planning where they could monitor air quality in Hong Kong.

From an educational perspective, when you take a project such as the Village Green, you also talk about chemistry, physics, meteorology, computer programming, and energy systems.

biz.hk: What’s the next generation of air quality monitoring technology that Hong Kong might find useful?

Hagler: In Hong Kong, there may be one monitoring station for every 500,000 people or so. These stations are doing regulatory monitoring to determine whether or not air quality standards are being met, and there is rigorous testing on the instruments used to collect data.

Right now, there is an emerging body of technology geared more towards the purpose of looking into personal exposure to pollution. This is a set of instruments under development for non-regulatory purposes, similar to what’s being developed for the Village Green station, which could be a structure put in a community environment. There are also very small air sensor devices that someone might wear or hold and send data to an app via their smartphones.

There is a lot of innovation happening in the area of air sensing technology. The trend that ordinary citizens can use the latest technology to measure air quality is definitely emerging, although there could be questions about the quality of the data.

What we need is to rigorously test the data and technology to make sure they are reliable. And, there are a number of groups in the US starting to do their own monitoring using some of the new technology. - Kenny Lau

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WOMEN OF INFLUENCE CONFERENCE & AWARDS 2 0 1 3

PRESENTED BY

PLATINUM SPONSOR

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSOR

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE:

T

his year celebrates the 10th anniversary of the AmCham/SCMP Women of Influence Conference & Awards, inaugurated in 2003 to recognize achievement of outstanding professional women (and men as champion for the advancement of women) and to promote gender diversity in the workplace.

The annual conference aims to honor dedicated leaders and draw attention to the issue of gender diversity while also serving as a platform for an exchange of ideas through a discussion on the issue. It is always full of inspirational stories and humbling experiences which provide a beacon to effect positive change in society. And, this year is no different.

This year, Dr Rebecca Lee as the world’s first woman explorer to reach the North Pole, South Pole and Mount Everest multiple times stresses the importance of

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A DECADE OF RECOGNITION environmental protection, while Jing Ulrich, a top business elite in finance and banking, tells of women leaders in Asia and around the world.

“Learning from the past and Leading to the future,” three panels of distinguished business leaders through sharing stories from a personal and corporate perspective highlight key elements in career development and offer practical advice on work-life integration in each of the concurrent breakout sessions.

Towards the end of the conference comes a ceremony in which WOI Awards in six categories are presented to five individuals and one company for their achievement. The categories are: Professional of the Year; Entrepreneur of the Year; Master in Charity; Champion for the Advancement of Women; and Best Company for Women. New in 2013 is the addition of “Leading Woman on Boards” award.

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Dr Rebecca Lee Lok-sze

A JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES

By Kenny Lau

D

r Rebecca Lee Lok-sze considers herself an “ordinary” person, even as she has become the world’s first woman explorer to reach the most extreme areas on the planet – the North Pole, South Pole and Mount Everest. She has traveled to the poles nearly 20 times and reached the highest point on Earth four times, raising awareness about climate change and the importance of environmental protection through her writing and photography.

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“I have been very lucky to have met and worked with so many talented people, including designers, film directors, well-known travelers and exceptional scientists, and I have learned a great deal from all of them,” Lee says, speaking about her life experience in the opening keynote address at the annual AmCham-SCMP WOI conference. “I strongly believe that learning from the past is critical in leading us to the future.”

In addition to advising for Hong Kong’s Leisure and Cultural Services

Department as well as Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Polar Research Committee, Lee has published numerous books, articles and photo essays on her expeditions and produced documentaries to share her insights and adventures, while founding Polar Museum Foundation devoted to polar research and environmental education.

“Even though I am not a scientist and certainly wouldn’t call myself an explorer, I try hard to follow softly behind the scientists to capture their work through the lenses of my camera and to record my

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thought and passion with my pen,” she tells of her expeditions.

The only woman As a teenager, Lee had dreamed about becoming an artist and a world traveler, but soon realized that “it was difficult to make a living that way” and instead decided to pursue an education in graphic design in the early 1960s at Hong Kong Technical College (now known as Polytechnic University which awarded Lee an Outstanding Alumni

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Award in 2003 for her life-long achievement and dedication).

More than 30 years ago, Lee developed her own design studio and has had a successful career in commercial design and advertising. In 1985, she became fascinated with Antarctica when she designed an exhibition in Hong Kong for the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition. Lee began to experience the wonders of the world’s polar regions with an initial visit to Antarctica and a subsequent trip to the Arctic region.

“I work hard to achieve my goal and make my dream of traveling around the world. It is always good to have a dream,” Lee says. At the age of 19 she set clear goals in a life timetable: Studying in the first 20 years of her life; getting more social experience, professional development and financial security in the second 20 years; and doing something meaningful for society in the third 20 years.

“I am fortunate in that everything has been going according to plan. My third 20 years has already passed, and I am lucky to be into my fourth 20 years and enjoying it,” she adds.

Since 1985, Lee has been on expedition trips to Antarctica 8 times and the Arctic 10 times and has stayed in scientific stations in both poles, including six dark winter months in 2001, capturing the work of dedicated scientists through art. “I think I could be called Miss Antarctica because I am often the only woman there,” she says jokingly.

“What I do is to use my artistic point of view to package and promote science to the general public, particularly to students,” she says. “Art can be used to visualize and create an object and image of the future and provoke emotional response. Art in collaboration with science can help people better understand our environment and climate change. Art can inspire others to get involved in the protection of our environment.”

A need to act Lee has traveled to different parts of the world – including some of the hottest places and deepest canyons on the planet – to witness human impact on the

environment. She has in past years hosted hundreds of talks, seminars and exhibitions to inspire young people in Hong Kong and Mainland on the issue of climate change despite having been a cancer survivor.

“During my 29 years of working in and out of the polar regions, I have been alerted to the damage of human activities on these regions and the rest of the world by the change in our climate,” she notes.

“Mother Earth seems to be whispering to us, asking us to save her, to take care of her, and to love her.”

“Many people regard the two poles as somewhere so far away that they are not closely related to us,” she adds. “However, they have a direct effect on climate change and are important areas of research.”

On her recent 76-day Arctic expedition, Lee alerted a worrying phenomenon aboard a Chinese ice-breaking research vessel named Snow Dragon when it easily reached 85 degrees north in latitude whereas ships could only sail up to 79 degrees north in 2003 and 74 degrees in 1999. It is a sign of ice melting in the polar region and “it will potentially have a huge impact on the climate of the world and our way of life,” she points out.

“Back in 2008, during our expedition to the Arctic Ocean, I was dismayed at the sight of the polar bear scouting for food at the side of our ship,” she recalls. “Their stomachs were hanging in folds. The absence of ice makes it extremely difficult for polar bears to hunt for seals while many starve and die.”

“As we all know, globalization has affected all of us, and we are facing immense challenge and unpredictable change,” Lee stresses. “Global warming is everyone’s problem, regardless of nationality. There is a desperate need to act on climate change. It is already too late to prevent that but we can stop it from getting worse.”

“We are all global citizens of the 21st century. We are all travelers of the universe. If we do not care about our environment, over the next few years, we may pass the point of no return,” she cautions. “As a Chinese poet once said, a journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

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Jing Ulrich

NEVER GIVE UP

By Kenny Lau

I

n a keynote address at the annual AmCham-SCMP WOI conference, Jing Ulrich, a business leader and an inspirational speaker, spoke on the rise of China and women leaders in Asia in a dialogue with Anna-Marie Slot, co-chair of AmCham WOI Committee.

Ulrich herself was named WOI’s “Young Achiever of the Year” in 2006, and “it was a tremendous honor and was probably the first award I ever won,” she tells the audience. She has since won many awards as a top business elite in finance and banking, including as one of

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Fortune magazine’s 50 Powerful Global Businesswomen and Forbes Asia’s 50 Powerful Businesswomen.

“I am very honored to have received these accolades, and I sincerely share the honor with all the great professional women,” Ulrich says. “There are so many hard-working women striving to achieve their goals and dreams, and these awards are a reflection of the society’s recognition of all the achievements women have made in general. I am extremely pleased to be able to join them as one of the professional women in Hong Kong.”

Career success As a working professional in the world of finance, Ulrich has had a very distinguished career. She was one of the very first analysts to cover the Chinese economy when it was only a relatively small market undergoing rapid changes in the 1990s. Ulrich was also convener of a China forum in Shanghai some 18 years ago, which has now become an international investment conference hosting 2,000 people from 40 countries annually.

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Ulrich is currently Managing Director and Vice Chairman of Asia Pacific at JPMorgan Chase & Co, where she several years ago initiated a “Hands-On China Series” to provide assessment of China’s economic condition from a much wider perspective. She was previously a managing director at Deutsche Bank and Head of China Research at CLSA, after having worked as a fund manager for two years in Washington DC. Throughout her career, Ulrich has advised numerous institutions, MNCs and investors on their China-related investment strategies from an objective

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and professional standpoint, interpreting the complexity of China for the outside world and vice versa. Because of her active role, she has been called the “Unofficial Voice of China.”

“I talk to a lot of people because it is the only way to understand what’s really happening here in Asia and around the world. You can read all the statistics and reports, but there is nothing like talking to real people,” Ulrich says. “What I do is to help explain what happens in China and Asia to global investors and what happens in the West to an Asian audience seeking to invest overseas.”

“At the end of the day, no matter what you do, whether you are an artist, novelist, carpenter or financier, it is all about people,” she says.

Ulrich is highly reputable in the global financial arena partly because of her ability to communicate and connect with people. However, she was extremely shy at an early age growing up in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution in China, and it was only during her college years when she started to gain a sense of self-confidence, Ulrich recalls.

“In China, we only learned through memorization of facts and numbers, and were rarely taught to have any confidence or creativity or to challenge authority,” she says. “When I went to Harvard, it not only taught me how to learn but also how to have trust in myself and how I could achieve my highest goals. In addition to my degree in English literature, I also graduated with a degree in self-confidence.”

Today, Ulrich travels around the world extensively sharing her insights with business and government leaders and in media interviews. “Even though I am a US citizen, I still have very deep roots in China and I consider myself a citizen of the world. Being able to represent China, even in a small way, is a great honor,” she says.

“And so many people have helped me along the way and guided me throughout my professional career, including people senior to me, my peers and even people who are younger,” Ulrich says in gratitude. “I have also been fortunate to be able to work for companies where I could have a voice and my voice heard.”

Role model Dubbed “Oprah Winfrey” of the investment world, Ulrich is herself a “big” Oprah admirer, noting “she has achieved so much in her life and is now a very popular TV personality and a great businesswoman.

“Coming from a very humble background, she is truly a self-made woman.”

“When I travel around the world and come across distinguished leaders of government and business, I see women worldwide have made tremendous progress,” Ulrich points out. “We now have female heads of states in countries like Germany, Korea and Thailand as well as leaders such as Hillary Clinton, Janet Yellen and Christine Lagarde in prominent positions. These are all great role models for women around the world.”

“People have begun to recognize the importance of giving women a chance to rise to the top and putting women in C-suites and decision-making roles, particularly in the more developed economies,” she notes.

“Here in Hong Kong, companies pay a lot of attention to the advancement of women in professional positions.”

Nevertheless, attrition rates among professional women remain higher than their male counterparts, Ulrich also points out. “I do think there is a lot of awareness about giving women a chance to succeed, but more needs to be done.

Women need to be recognized for what they are and can achieve.”

“For women who want to get to the top, you need to have a good education and work hard,” she suggests. “As Oprah once said, you can get there if you are willing to work hard to achieve your goals.”

“She also once said that the only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. So, we all need to take risks on a daily basis; otherwise, we won’t be able to achieve anything,” she continues. “More importantly, you also need to have a desire to be successful in your career.”

Her advice to those seeking a fulfilling career: Love what you do and devote all your efforts; don’t set a goal to compete with others – only compete with the goals you’ve set yourself; never give up and you will get there.

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I PANEL

DISCUSSION 30

n addition to two keynote speakers at the 10th annual AmCham-SCMP WOI Conference, a group of highly accomplished business executives were invited for a discussion on the issue of gender diversity in the workplace. Through sharing stories from a personal and corporate perspective, panel speakers in three concurrent sessions highlighted key elements in career development and the promotion of women leaders.

The celebration of diversity has undoubtedly become a cultural norm in the corporate world as a result of numerous initiatives and propositions, and it is poised to become even more important of a philosophy in the age of globalization. Many companies, especially MNCs, have taken an extra step to varying degrees in bridging the gender gap through the adoption of employee-friendly practices.

Panelists in a discussion of Diversity Initiatives That Really Work (moderated by Anne-Marie Balfe, Talent Leader, Asia Pacific, EY) agree that as a leading employer it is an important imperative to be able to celebrate and value people from diverse backgrounds. And, there are many ways to achieve the goal of creating an inclusive environment in which employees are encouraged to perform on the job and to climb up the career ladder.

“We have quite a few diversity programs in place for our people, and they take ownership of what works for them,” notes Vania Chu, Managing Director & Head of Internal Audit (Asia Pacific ex-Japan), Goldman Sachs Asia. “While we don’t have quotas, we do measure progress and seek feedback.”

“We try to create an environment where people feel they have autonomy in their work arrangement by providing flexibility and a support network,” she adds. “For programs to be successful, you need commitment from your senior leaders.”

In a diversity program, stakeholders need to define clearly the goals and priorities but also need to recognize that not everything will work, suggests Jyoti Chopra, Managing Director & Head of Global Diversity and Inclusion, HR Talent Strategy, BNY Mellon. “We try to have tangible outputs by laying out objectives, and being able to articulate for the program is foundational.”

Equally important is to have visible role models so from whom people can see a vision, Chopra says. “When people see that, it becomes a reality because it has happened.”

The idea of diversity is a philosophy of building a positive work environment for people, notes John Allison, Vice President, Human Resources, FedEx Express, Asia Pacific. “As a company, we are supportive to providing flexibility for our people, and we tend to have an approach more on an individual and informal basis to cater to different needs.”

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“Our focus is very much on development opportunities for people to grow and participate because success breeds success,” he points out, noting a turnover of less than 10 percent among employees in Asia Pacific. “And, it is often recruitment at the entry level where you can make a difference in diversity.”

In the panel Mistakes Made and Lessons Learned: Sharing Experiences (moderated by Sarah Graham, Managing Editor of SCMP.com), three distinguished businesswomen told of their journey to career success and tips for those looking for personal development at the workplace, whether it is running your own business or working in a large MNC. Founder of business consultancy ICS TRUST, which was acquired in 2012 by Orangefield Group to form Orangefield ICS, Chairwoman Elizabeth L Thomson has spent more than 30 years building an SME on a foundation of trust and high standards, and has found that entrepreneurs often miss to set themselves specific goals.

“You need to take time to reflect on you career and be thinking about your life in stages,” she suggests. “But don’t work too hard in times because you will miss the other things in life. Think about living, not doing. Most importantly, take good care of yourself.”

Throughout the years, Thomson has learned there is always light at the end of the tunnel when things go awfully wrong.

“A mishap is when life is teaching you a lesson,” she believes. “But things will eventually look brighter. It is important to reach out and ask for advice, and be strategic in your move.”

There is a segment of people in the workplace who are very hard-working but do not make enough connection to develop their career, notes Jane Horan, Founder of the Horan Group and author of I Wish I’d Known That Earlier In My Career: The Power of Positive Workplace Politics. And, a large of number of women tends to be much more low-key about their success.

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From left: Vania Chu, Jyoti Chopra, John Allison and Anne-Marie Balfe

From left: Lisa Hunt, Jane Horan, Elizabeth L Thomson and Sarah Graham

“When you are successful, don’t assume that people are fully aware of what you are accomplishing,” Lisa Hunt, Executive Vice President, International Services & Special Business Development, Charles Schwab, echoes. “Take time to recognize yourself and make sure people for whom you are working understand your contribution.”

“Never settle from a career perspective, and have the courage to walk out and

recognize that there are other opportunities,” she adds. “It may be easier said than done, especially in the current economic environment.

However, everyone has his or her talent with which you can find a perfect fit.”

“Sometimes we need to take a step back to move forward,” Hunt believes.

“Don’t be afraid of taking risks. It will all work out. And, it is not a shame but smart to ask for or hire support.”

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Mistakes Made and Lessons Learned: Sharing Experiences

Best Company For Women Citi Hong Kong

*Jane Horan Founder & Strategic Consultant, The Horan Group *Lisa Hunt Executive Vice President, International Services & Special Business Development, Charles Schwab & Co Inc *Elizabeth L Thomson Chairwoman, Orangefield ICS Ltd and AmCham Governor Moderator: Sarah Graham Managing Editor, SCMP.com

From left: Chia Fan Hu, Beverly Sunn, Barbara Chiu and Dana Breitenstein

“Do ask for help when you need it, no matter how senior you are,” Horan adds.

“And don’t stay at something that is incredibly painful. You need not fear.”

In the third panel Women Leading in Asia: Personal Stories (moderated

by Dana Breitenstein, Regional Director, Intercultural & Language Solutions, Asia Pacific, Cartus), speakers looking from their past offered their valuable advice on how to lead a rewarding career and fulfilling life.

General Manager of PepsiCo Japan since 2010, Chia Fang Hu is based in Tokyo for all of PepsiCo’s businesses including partnerships with Suntory, Kirin and Calbee in a country where she also received her degree in Marketing and Commerce. Under her leadership, PepsiCo Japan has gained significant market share and doubled sales volume with the introduction of new products, thereby earning the PepsiCo DMK Award in 2012.

“Be passionate and assertive in what you do. Be yourself and believe in yourself.

And, speak up and stand up for yourself,” says Hu, an avid supporter of women in business and female talent development.

“You must have passion and follow your principles,” Beverly Sunn, Founder and President, Asia Pacific Properties,

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echoes. “It is all about what you do and not what you say.”

Born and raised in Hawaii, Sunn is one of the first American female entrepreneurs to establish a firm combining real estate and relocation services in Asia on a foundation of a commitment to people. She is a former (and the only woman) president of the American Club in Hong Kong and a former board member of the Hong Kong chapter of the International Woman’s Forum.

As Managing Director of Cisco Hong Kong & Macau, Barbara Chiu undertakes a responsibility to bring the best of people within her organization and is keen on people-oriented management and talent development, a culture for which Cisco Hong Kong was awarded WOI Best Company for Women in 2009.

Named Best Country Manager of the Year in APAC (2008) and Best Sales Leader of the Year in Greater China (2010), Chiu is a stronger believer and advocate for an inclusive work environment where employees can learn and develop.

“You are often stronger than you think you are, and you can be very resilient,” she says. “So, follow your heart and be prepared for tomorrow.” – Kenny Lau

Diversity Initiatives That Really Work *John Allison Vice President, Human Resources, Asia Pacific, FedEx Express *Jyoti Chopra Managing Director, Head of Global Diversity and Inclusion, HR Talent Strategy, BNY Mellon *Vania Chu Managing Director, Head of Internal Audit in Asia Pacific Ex-Japan, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC Moderator: Anne-Marie Balfe Talent Leader Financial Services, Asia Pacific; Asia Pacific Diversity & Inclusiveness Leader, EY, and Co-Chair, AmCham Women of Influence Committee

Women Leading in Asia: Personal Stories *Chia Fang Hu General Manager, PepsiCo Japan *Barbara Chiu Managing Director, Cisco Systems (HK) Ltd *Beverly Sunn, SGMS Founder & President, Asia Pacific Properties Ltd, and Thomson Reuters Board of Directors Moderator: Dana Breitenstein Regional Director, Intercultural & Language Solutions, Asia Pacific, Cartus

biz.hk 11 • 2013

By Vicki Williams

T

he Best Company for Women award is given to a firm in recognition of its achievements in supporting the development of women in business. This year, the recipient is international banking organization Citi Hong Kong. The judges were impressed by its broad approach towards equality and the opportunities provided to women, including recruitment, mentoring and an understanding of the need to have a work-life balance.

“As a company, we value a work environment where diversity is embraced, where people are promoted on their merits, and where people treat each other with respect. We provide equal opportunity to develop our employees around the world regardless of race, ethnic origin and gender. We review all qualified candidates in a fair manner and also have policies to review compensation structure and pay level to ensure equity,” says Maggie Ng, managing director, head of cards and unsecured lending for Citibank Global Consumer Banking, and co-chair of the Citi Hong Kong Diversity Committee.

Of the approximately 2,900 employees in Citi Hong Kong, 53 percent are women. In terms of management, around 48 percent of such roles are held by women, and the management team is made up of 50 percent female executives.

Citi has had a program in place since 2006 that’s designed to develop the

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advancement of the highestperforming female executives.

Ng says: “Around 76 percent of our senior female executives have attended at least one of these career development programs.”

Work-life balance is also addressed through its global framework, Citi Work Strategies. Flexible Work is one of its initiatives, offering four schedule types: Flexitime, whereby employees work “core hours” with an early or late start; Compressed Workweek, which allows

careers of talented women. “The Citi Women program is a company-wide effort to foster the ongoing development of female leaders from recruitment to senior management,” says Ernesto Pittaluga, head of Hong Kong global subsidiaries, corporate and investment banking for Citi Hong Kong, and Citi Hong Kong Diversity Committee co-chair.

“For female staff members who exhibit potential to take on senior or executive positions within the bank, comprehensive development programs at global, regional and local levels are in place to assist their career advancement and equip them with the necessary skills to take up senior leadership positions.”

Ernesto Pittaluga, left, and Maggie Ng of Citi, with award Included in the presenter Brian Brenner program is Coaching employees to work longer hours but for Success, in which emerging midfewer days in a week; Job Sharing, in level female professionals are given the which two employees do the duties of opportunity to attend a series of workone full-time position; and Partshops, with senior management team time/Reduced Schedule. members - female and male - acting as Citi also encourages its employees coaches. to leave on time so that they can be In 2008, the Citi Women’s Leaderwith their families. “We also introship Development Program was introduced the monthly 4pm Leave Day, so duced. The three-day leadership skills that colleagues can have more time to training program is offered through spend with their families on special the Office of Global Workforce Diveroccasions,” Ng says. sity and Executive Development, and The company also organizes the taught in conjunction with UCLA’s Senior Women Leadership Series, Anderson School of Management. featuring internal and external speakAdditionally, there is the Women ers who inspire female employees to Leading Citi initiative, an 18-month aim high. program designed to foster the

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Champion for the Advancement of Women

By Tara Loader Wilkinson

A

s the only son in a family of four children, Hayden Majajas is used to spending a lot of time in the company of women. In his role as director of diversity and inclusion (D&I) for Asia at oil giant BP, championing the advancement of women is a key focus.

But it was never his intention to follow a career in diversity. The Australian-born Majajas went to Griffith University in Brisbane and later obtained a law degree in Tokyo. After working at United States law firms in Japan for a few years, he made the move into financial services, doing legal work with Lehman Brothers, UBS and Nomura. But knowing that he did not want to remain in the legal field forever, he began to explore options and moved into a business strategy role that provided insights into how a firm is run, its products and its clients.

Majajas had been establishing some of the region’s first employee networks at the time - including a women’s network, gay and lesbian networks, and an Asian leaders network - and, as a result, he was invited to move into the business side.

“I saw how my experiences and energy aligned with the role, and I believe that I bring a unique commercial perspective to D&I,” Majajas says.

It was with this role that Majajas moved to Hong Kong, where he has been based since 2007. He is also co-chair of non-profit The Women's Foundation's best-in-class Mentoring Program.

Majajas says he is “extremely proud” to win the American Chamber of Commerce award for championing the advancement of women. “Any time that my work leads to someone else taking action on inclusion - as if it were their own vision - is a proud moment for me. I hope this award will inspire others to do similar.”

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Hayden Majajas, D&I Director, Asia Pacific, BP Asia Limited Majajas says in a perfect world, he would like to see firms creating inclusive workplaces, which could influence communities where gender, race, disability, sexual orientation and many other stereotypes and non-inclusive behavior still exist. “I’m a strong believer that we can’t just leave it up to governments and organizations, but we also need to engage communities, working with children from young ages to help them understand that both girls and boys can go into geosciences and engineering, to take one example,” he says. “We need interventions that are respectful of local culture while reshaping societal norms, and I would love to be part of that.”

So what still needs to change in businesses in order to embed diversity?

Majajas stresses that the focus should be on inclusion rather than diversity. Being surrounded with differences and being tolerant of them is not the same as valuing those differences. Understanding and truly valuing differences enable people to work and communicate effectively across cultural boundaries and to succeed, he says.

“If organizations can create environments that are truly inclusive, they will naturally attract the diversity of the world's talent and, as a result, be a true meritocracy.”

He points out that a city such as Hong Kong has natural diversity, but the key is being inclusive. But this must start with an individual rather than an organization.

Majajas advocates a bottom-up, top-down approach. He says: “There are many best practices locally, regionally and globally, but it doesn’t take a country - all it takes is one person. It begins with shifting our mindsets away from, ‘there isn't much we can do about this’ to making a commitment to doing that little bit that we are able to influence.”

Entrepreneur of the Year Debra Meiburg, Director, Meiburg Wine Media Ltd

By Tara Loader Wilkinson

I

The Hong Kong stock exchange recently launched a new code provision that obliges listed companies to disclose their diversity policies. This was a positive move for the city’s diversity, Majajas says. “There are both pros and cons when it comes to legal requisites,” he says. “However, what legal or regulatory requirements create are accountability, and accountability creates action. Once an organization knows they are being held accountable, they then take tangible steps to be compliant.”

He cautions that there is danger in believing that legal requisites are a panacea.

“There is also a need to look at individuals and the environment,” Majajas says. “Until we are aware of bias in society, in organizational systems and processes, and begin to understand how to manage those biases, legal requisites alone won’t solve anything.”

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f you have travelled by taxi in Hong Kong, you will probably be familiar with Debra Meiburg’s face.

The award-winning, statuesque, California-born wine master gives tasting tips in videos broadcast in 20,000 taxis in Hong Kong and the mainland.

Meiburg is one of Asia’s most decorated masters of wine, which is the highest possible qualification in the industry. Her long list of accolades include being named Wine Business International’s Most Influential Wine Journalist in Hong Kong, landing on Decanter’s Seven Names to Watch in 2013, and ranking seventh in the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Wine by The Drinks Business.

She was the first recipient of the master of wine title in Asia and founded the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition, now in its fifth year. She has authored books, is a columnist for publications including the South China Morning Post and Asia Tatler, and produces and hosts a wine travel television show called Taste the Wine.

One of Meiburg’s proudest moments came last month when her employee and protege Sarah Heller received the world’s top score on the Wine and Spirit Education Trust diploma qualification.

With such a formidable career on paper, one might expect an imperious personality to match. But Meiburg is warm, charming and self-deprecating. “I grew up surrounded by vineyards, but I never considered wine as a profession,” she says.

She relocated from the US to Hong

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Kong as an accountant with PwC in the mid-1980s, although her auditing career would prove to be short-lived. “I soon realized I was too much fun to be an accountant,” she says.

Meiburg was recruited to run a non-profit organization, a turning point in her attitude towards food and drink, and getting close to Hong Kong’s grassroots community. At the same time, she enrolled in a wine course that started out “as a minor interest, just a hobby.”

“Everyone assumes that my wine knowledge was formed in California, but actually I barely drank wine before moving to Hong Kong,” Meiburg says. “But I soon found it fit perfectly with my interests: history, culture, language and geography, science - and of course - food.”

She started speaking at wine courses and teaching classes almost by accident, but soon had regular spots which snowballed into conferences, seminars and later, her business. She now charges up to HK$20,000 for a speaker’s fee.

Meiburg says she is “thrilled and honored” to win the American Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year award because it means her company has been recognized as a bona fide enterprise.

She established her eponymous company, DebraMasterofWine.com, shortly after receiving her qualification in 2008. It now encompasses six fields, including broadcast media and documentaries, conference and events management, educational products, business-to-business training, brandbuilding forums and wine tours around the world.

Education is Meiburg’s favorite part of the job. She says: “The best way to learn about something is to teach it.” She taught seminars on Turkish, Georgian and Greek wine at the International Wine

& Spirits Fair this month, topics which she has delighted in learning about herself. “Wine can be intimidating and difficult to make sense of. I try to break down the mystery and make it accessible to everyone,” Meiburg says. So what are the main challenges and anomalies facing the wine consumer market in Asia?

According to Meiburg, the rulebook that says red goes with meat and white goes with fish can be torn up and thrown away. “The diversity of flavors within Asian cuisine makes it impossible to establish hard and fast rules,” she says.

“For example, fish could be served in a curry, in soy sauce, or sweet and sour, demanding a totally different wine pairing.”

In an upcoming tasting seminar, Meiburg is pairing 16 sauces with different wines, which she says will be insightful.

As for her personal favorite tipple, she says: “I love trying new varieties, and I’m really keen on my Turkish wines at the moment. But when we’re drinking wine at home, I let my husband Patrick choose.

He has very traditional tastes, and I'm happy with that, too.”

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Leading Woman on Boards

Laura Cha, Chairman, Financial Services Development Council

By Tara Loader Wilkinson

F

ew women can say that they have worked with three consecutive Hong Kong leaders and held a ministerial position in the central government. In fact, Laura Cha, a Shanghai-born lawyer, politician and mother of two, may be the only one.

Earlier this year, Cha was appointed as chairman of the newly created Financial Services Development Council (FSDC), a body set up to gather industry views on improving and further developing the internationalization of Hong Kong's financial market and enhancing its position on the global platform. It was the latest in a long line of important promotions for Cha, whose career in law and politics has followed a smooth ascent.

After qualifying as a lawyer in the United States and working at the firm Pillsbury Madison & Sutro in San Francisco, Cha moved to Hong Kong, where she continued to practice law with New York-based Coudert Brothers. She was recruited to join the newly established Securities and Futures Commission when it was first established in 1991 and stayed there for a decade, moving up the ranks to deputy chairman.

She left in 2000 and was approached by the central government to be vice-chairman of the Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission, a post she assumed in 2001. The move was historic - Cha was the first person outside of the mainland to join the central government at a vice-ministerial level, a role for which she had to give up her US citizenship.

“I had a good track record in Hong Kong as a market regulator, and a reputation for not being afraid to make tough decisions. I believe that was why I was sought out for the job,” she says.

Cha remained in the post for more than three years before returning to Hong Kong in 2004. Cha has since joined the Hong Kong government as a non-official

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member of the Executive Council. She served under former chief executives Tung Chee-hwa and Donald Tsang. Now she serves Leung Chun-ying.

“I now devote half my time to public service in non-paying pro-bono work and half on serving, and now also sitting on a few corporate boards,” she says.

The most recent move was her appointment as FSDC chairman in January, becoming head of around 60 members representing the financial services industry. “Our job will be to make recommendations to the government on where things can be improved in the financial services sector, then it will be up to the government to accept our proposals.”

The platform has been described as crucial to Hong Kong's future in an increasingly crowded and competitive marketplace of financial centers. Cha believes Hong Kong is in a strong position, but improvements can still be made, which is where the FSDC comes in.

“Hong Kong is a leading international financial center, but there are certain areas in which we are deficient - for instance, in fixed income or commodities, risk management and treasury functions, which are areas that we can further develop. There are also areas where improvement to the current regime can be made. We are coming out with a few of our proposals by the end of the year; we are working on these right now.”

When it comes to overcoming challenges facing women in business, Cha believes having children before embarking on a career allowed her to better focus on her profession. She moved to the US in 1968 to study at the University of Wisconsin, where she met her husband. They married, then she stayed at home to have two children

Master in Charity

Kylie Uebergang, Board Co-Chair & Co-Founder, PathFinders

By Liana Cafolla

I before going to law school and pursuing a career.

“This was not by design, but it worked out well for me. I suppose it was quite an unusual path in those days,” she says. “My friends who started their career first and then had children, in my opinion, had a more difficult time because their career got to a stage where if they took time off, they might lose momentum. Many of them were torn, as they wanted to spend more time with their children. It is never easy having to balance the demands of family and career.”

Another issue, Cha says, is that there are not enough women to form a strong network and create role models. “A lot of professional relationships are built over networking, mostly at after-work activities, which is difficult for women who want to go home and look after their families.”

Cha believes this balance is a universal challenge for women. In Asia, it’s easier because household help is more readily available for mothers, she adds.

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t was a family-rooted social conscience that led Kylie Uebergang to co-found PathFinders, an organization that helps migrant children and their mothers. Set up in 2008, PathFinders has helped 2,000 women and babies and is about to celebrate its fifth anniversary.

“We really began from one room in Chungking Mansions, where we met a number of women who were all former domestic workers who had overstayed their visas,” Uebergang says. “They'd all become pregnant to asylum-seekers, so the children had no rights to be in Hong Kong - the mothers were undocumented themselves. They barely had enough food for themselves, let alone to feed the children. They literally emptied the rice cooker water and that’s what they fed to the children, because they had no money for any milk and they hadn’t been encouraged to breastfeed the baby.”

The women she met that first time were all Indonesian and undocumented, with no knowledge of their legal rights or obligations. Most were scared, and some were seriously ill.

“The next time we went to that room, there were 10 women, and one had tuberculosis and couldn’t get help, and one had HIV,” Uebergang says.

She sought help from existing organizations, but found that NGOs in Hong Kong were stretched too thin to be able to add a new service or group. And so PathFinders was born. The organization helps migrant women and their children to sort out their immigration status and get access to legal and social assistance.

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“Once they’re recognized as living in Hong Kong and having overstayed their visa, then they are entitled to a minimum level of social welfare support,” Uebergang says.

One of PathFinders’ achievements has been to clarify Hong Kong’s policy on undocumented children. Although babies born here to Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s could be adopted, social welfare workers did not have a category for arranging adoptions of undocumented migrant children.

Working with pro bono lawyers, Uebergang approached the High Court, which agreed that undocumented children could be adopted in Hong Kong. In 2010, the first such child was adopted.

Uebergang and her partner have adopted a mixed-race child, which helped spur the founding of PathFinders, as she realized a common bond with the migrant mothers she met, who wanted the same things she did for their children.

PathFinders has also helped Uebergang find her own path. She previously worked as an accountant in Australia and Canada but found the work environment in Hong Kong difficult. After many telephone sessions with a life coach, she left her job and spent six months working as a volunteer with Mother's Choice, Crossroads and Civic Exchange.

Her four-year stint at Civic Exchange was a turning point. “That was when Hong Kong really started to become my home, because I wasn’t stuck in a very isolated professional world,” Uebergang says. “I met people from different walks [of life]. It opened a dialogue within me and a dialogue with Hong Kong that I’d never had before.”

With that commitment to Hong Kong in place, Uebergang was encouraged by her partner to find a job that made her happy.

“I went into a profession that allowed me to travel the world, and that was key, because I would never have had the opportunity to do this kind of thing if I was in Australia,” she says.

“Once you travel the world, you get to see who you really are.”

With a new CEO in place, Uebergang is stepping back from front-line operations to focus on behind-thescenes work in the boardroom. She says: “We want to continue drawing those hidden people out of the community, [and] we want to make sure that we are the first port of call for any domestic helper who has a question about pregnancy, getting pregnant, terminating a pregnancy, or understanding what their rights are in terms of their working contract and pregnancy. We want to make sure they have someone to call.”

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Professional of the Year

By Liana Cafolla

T

eresa Ko Yuk-yin is no stranger to headlines.

The chairman for China and partner at law firm Freshfields, Bruckhaus Deringer and founding partner of the firm’s equity capital markets practice has a career spanning 25 years, marked by a series of firsts.

In 1993, newly returned to her native Hong Kong after completing her education in Britain, Ko joined Freshfields and was soon involved in the first dual Hong Kong-New York listing of Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, part of the central government’s plan to list its state-owned enterprises on the Hong Kong stock exchange. More big name deals followed, including the 1997 listing of China Mobile for US$4.2 billion, the most raised by any listing at the time.

Ko also advised on the listing of L'Occitane International, the first French-based business to list in Hong Kong, and jewelry company Chow Tai Fook’s US$2 billion listing. She was named Dealmaker of the Year in 2011 by ALB Hong Kong Law Awards. She was appointed the first China chairman of Freshfields in the firm’s 270-year history.

The seeds of her future success were planted in the advice she got from her parents - a father who taught her never to give up, and a mother who encouraged her to be resourceful and creative.

Being a woman is no impediment to success, she says. “Women shouldn’t feel they have to act or behave like men to get on in the world. There is a lot of strength in femininity and I urge all women to remember it.”

Ko’s ground-breaking deals are only one part of her sphere of influence.

Inside Freshfields, she has been a devoted nurturer of less-experienced colleagues, a signature of the firm’s culture and one from which she says

Teresa Ko, China Chairman & Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer she benefited enormously herself earlier in her career.

“I was the only Chinese person in the office when I joined Freshfields, and today we strive to be an employer of choice for a lot of talented young Chinese,” she says. “It has been great to witness that growth over time. I would like not just to be defined by the deals I have done or yet to do, but by the people I have helped develop or have inspired.

It’s important to me that our firm inspires its people to stretch themselves and achieve their fullest potential.”

Reaching her own full potential did not come seamlessly to Ko. After disappointing school results, Ko was not able to get into her university of choice. It was a hard lesson, and one that taught her the necessity of hard work. To compensate, she worked to get a first-class honors degree and then won a scholarship to Cambridge University from where she graduated with a master's degree in law, awarded with distinction.

She is a firm believer that real-life experience trumps training when it comes to achieving success in the world of international deal-making.

“There’s no substitute for on-thejob training and practical experience,” she says. “I’ve found that, as a lawyer, clients are increasingly looking for solutions, judgment and advice that are built on real time, real deal and real life experiences accumulated over the course of a career.”

Along with her skills and experience, Ko has used her natural propensity for straight talking to advantage.

“From my days as a junior lawyer, I was always prepared to speak my mind if I thought I had a point worth hearing,” she says. “To be a true professional and to be respected by clients and peers alike,

is to be prepared to tell the client what they may not want to hear, but rather what they need to hear.”

Self-knowledge is an important state to cultivate, she says.

“A Harvard professor once taught me that you have to be prepared to be your own observer and harshest critic.

That means really setting aside some time - and some humility - to assess your own strengths and weaknesses.”

Ko says her own professional learning and growth is continuing, and others seeking to climb the legal ladder to success should be aware that it takes time to build a legal career and should savor every learning and development opportunity that presents itself.

“Be curious, be open minded, and make your contribution - however small you think it is at the time. Most of all, your career should be something you want to do, not something you feel you should do. Remember to enjoy it and have fun along the way.”

Editor's Note: Articles on award winners reprinted with permission of SCMP

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biz.hk 11 • 2013

SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

8th Annual AmCham Golf Open The Eighth Annual AmCham Golf Open, hosted by AmCham’s Sports & Entertainment Committee, took place on November 11 at the Discovery Bay Golf Club. Golfers played in teams of four and competed for Winner, 1st and 2nd Runner-up in a fun-filled half-day outing in support of AmCham’s Charitable Foundation.

Special thanks go to this year’s sponsors, Asian Tigers Mobility and Delta Air Lines, for making the annual event possible.

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Team Winner

Rob Chipman, Henrik Karlberg, Sean Dolphin and Sandy Mackintosh

Eagle and Transportation Sponsor

1st Runner-up

Adam Grose, Mike Piergrosse, Nam-Jin Lee and Kyung-Ho Son

2nd Runner-up

Rick Truscott, Dave Moore, Edward Chu and Yow Yin Tho

Longest Drive Winner

Eagle Sponsor

James Donahue Haig

Nearest to Pin Winner Mike Piergrosse

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2013 Dec

Mark Your Calendar District Energy System –

Dec Sustainable Solutions for Cities

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Dec

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Chris Chong, Managing Director, Hong Kong District Cooling Company Ltd District Energy and Cogeneration was identified by International Energy Agency (IEA) as a proven, cost-effective and clean solution for delivering electricity, heating and cooling and as “Sustainable Energy Technologies for Today and Tomorrow.”

The talk will discuss the various reasons why these systems can help some regions to meet broader energy and environmental objectives. Cases studies will be used to illustrate benefits and critical successful factors of District Energy System.

Chris Chong is Business Development Director of Dalkia Asia Pte Ltd and Managing Director of Hong Kong District Cooling Company Ltd. He previously worked for the CLP Group before joining Dalkia Group, a leading Energy Services Company owned by Veolia Environment, in 2005. In his career, he developed and operated few district energy systems in Guangzhou, Macau and Hong Kong. He is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow Member of Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Counterfeiting Trends in Hong Kong and China Alan Chiu, Partner, Mayer Brown JSM Mayank Vaid, Chairman, European Brands Protection Committee In this luncheon, Mayank Vaid and Alan Chiu will talk about the latest counterfeiting trends in Hong Kong and China, and how these trends impact the luxury goods industry and other sectors. Topics will also include the IPR study report jointly produced by the European Brands Protection Council of the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, KPMG, TNS and Mayer Brown JSM, as well as practical tips in effective IP enforcement in Hong Kong and China.

Alan Chiu been qualified as a solicitor in Hong Kong since 2004 and advises on a diversified range of contentious and commercial IP and IT matters in both HK and China, covering copyright, trademark, design and patent enforcement, IP infringement and passing off lawsuits, customs complaints and seizures, protection of privacy and trade secrets, IP related antitrust issues, music and entertainment contracts as well as technology and outsourcing agreements. He also has a computer forensic background and advises on legal issues concerning e-commerce, computer security, IT compliance and Internet regulatory aspects.

Mayank Vaid joined LVMH’s Intellectual Property Department in January 2009.

Previously he worked in Daimler AG in various positions in Germany, India and China. He chairs the European Brands Protection Council under the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong & Macau. He has been active in cross-industry intellectual property lobbying groups, including the Quality Brands Protection Committee (QBPC), Task force on Anti-Counterfeiting of Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers, the High Level National Committee on IPRs and the Confederation of Indian Industry Alliance for Anti-Counterfeiting & Piracy.

Key Tools for Managing Arbitral Proceedings -

Dec The 2013 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules

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Chiann Bao, Secretary-General, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre A global increase in transactions involving Asian parties and the maturation of arbitration infrastructure in Asia has led to the sharp rise in popularity of Asian arbitration institutions over the last decade. In the luncheon, we will discuss recent developments at the most established and long standing institution in the region, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), and take a closer look at how the HKIAC is developing to meet the increased demand for arbitration in Asia and the evolving needs of its users.

Chiann Bao functions as the chief executive officer of the HKIAC and oversees the administration of a full range of ADR support services. She is a Councillor of the International Federation of Commercial Arbitration Institutions (IFCAI). In addition, she serves as a board member of the Practical Law Company, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s International Advisory Board and the Asian Dispute Review’s Editorial Board. A New York qualified lawyer, she practiced at an international law firm in New York before joining the HKIAC in 2010.

For information, see website: www.amcham.org.hk

Tel: (852) 2530 6900

Fax: (852) 2810 1289

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Time: 12:00 - 2:00pm (Sandwiches and beverages included)

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Fee(s): Member Fee: HK$250 Non Member Fee: HK$380

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Venue: AmCham Office 1904 Bank of America Tower 12 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong Time: 12:00 - 2:00pm (Sandwiches and beverages included) Fee(s): Member Fee: HK$250 Non Member Fee: HK$380

Venue: AmCham Office 1904 Bank of America Tower 12 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong Time: 12:00 - 2:00pm (Sandwiches and beverages included) Fee(s): Member Fee: HK$250 Non Member Fee: HK$380

Venue: AmCham Office 1904 Bank of America Tower 12 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong

Email: kalau@amcham.org.hk