AmCham biz.hk Oct 2015

October 2015

FORWARD THINKING KAREN REDDINGTON

PRESIDENT ASIA PACIFIC FOR FEDEX

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT:

GUIDE TO EARLY & ADVANCED EDUCATION

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Living in HK Oct Version Fin 1.pdf 1 10/9/2015 6:45:52 PM

AmCham HK’s Go-To Guidebook for everything to know about the City that Truly Never Sleeps Now Available for Purchase at www.amcham.org.hk/publications

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October 2015

Contents

Vol 47 No 10

Publisher

Richard R Vuylsteke

Editor-in-Chief Blessing Waung

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COVER STORY

Karen Reddington, president of Asia Pacific for FedEx, has been a stalwart in the logistics industry. Having relocated officially to Hong Kong, she speaks as to what she sees as the future of the company, her new role leading Asia Pacific, and why she cares so much about educating the next generation.

Managing Editor Leon Lee

Advertising Sales Manager 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.

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Advertising office 1904 Bank of America Tower 12 Harcourt Rd, Central, Hong Kong Tel: (852) 2530 6900 Fax: (852) 3753 1206 Email: amcham@amcham.org.hk Website: www.amcham.org.hk

06 New Business Contacts

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 Tel: (852) 3596 8466 Email: ray.chau@overa.com.hk Website: www.overacreative.com ŠThe American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, 2015 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 Beginning in December, proposals especially regarding the improvement of the Mandatory Provident Fund scheme will be a part of the overarching consultation, with the government potentially seeking the Hong Kong public for their input. Many aspects need to be considered.

37 executives joined AmCham's business network last month

07 New Member Spotlight Each month, biz.hk will highlight a recently joined member to our Chamber. This issue, we spoke to Takayuki Kuboshima, Managing Director of Marubeni-Itochu Steel Hong Kong Limited.

40 Mark Your Calendar

COVER STORY 08 Forward Thinking Karen Reddington, president of Asia Pacific for FedEx, has been a stalwart in the logistics industry. Having relocated officially to Hong Kong, she speaks as to what she sees as the future of the company, her new role leading Asia Pacific, and why she cares so much about educating the next generation.

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18 TRADE AND INVESTMENT Compliance with the Competition Ordinance cannot be achieved at a flick of a switch; companies should start preparations before the law’s full implementation in mid-December, says Anna Wu, Chairperson of Hong Kong’s Competition Commission.

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22 ENTREPRENEURS/SMES As a worldwide leader in the office furniture business, Steelcase believes the right use of office space can maximize workers’ capacity. The company now accounts for local needs in Hong Kong and is adjusting to Asia in time of growth opportunities beyond Europe and the US.

TRADE & INVESTMENT

14 Smart and Safe: Investment in Utah Utah has been repeatedly ranked as the number one state for business and careers. Referring to economic trends in Utah as “rising tide that raises all boats on the pond”, Governor Gary R. Herbert speaks about why businesses/investors are turning to the state and why Hong Kong and Utah are a symbiotic fit.

18 A New Era For Hong Kong’s Competition Regime Compliance with the Competition Ordinance cannot be achieved at a flick of a switch; companies should start preparations before the law’s full implementation in mid-December, says Anna Wu, Chairperson of Hong Kong’s Competition Commission.

ENTREPRENEURS/SMES 22 The Office 2.0 As a worldwide leader in the office furniture business, Steelcase believes the right use of office space can maximize workers’ capacity. The company now accounts for local needs in Hong Kong and is adjusting to Asia in time of growth opportunities beyond Europe and the US.

TAXATION The United States is the only country that requires its citizens living abroad to file income taxes. And as the IRS increases its vigilance on enforcing its rules outside of home, it is important to know the correct procedures on other things that need to be reported like investments and overseas retirement plans.

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS 28 Wading The Political Waters of Hong Kong Former US navy officer David Schaus is currently an owner of three companies based in Hong Kong. Now running as an independent candidate for councillor of Hong Kong’s Bays Area Constituency, he hopes to improve the community with lessons from his diverse experiences to his aid.

TAXATION 32 Taxing Concerns For Americans Abroad The United States is the only country that requires its citizens living abroad to file income taxes. And as the IRS increases its vigilance on enforcing its rules outside of home, it is important to know the correct procedures on other things that need to be reported like investments and overseas retirement plans.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 36 Protecting Creativity and Innovation Deputy Director SK Lee and Assistant Director Michelle Chong of the Intellectual Property Department share about their work in protecting intellectual property rights, as well as the latest of the government’s efforts to build IP trading capacity in Hong Kong.

26 Good Work The use and understanding of ergonomics have diversified as the notion of productivity changed. Michael Held, Director of Design at Steelcase explains how ergonomics has evolved beyond the right sitting posture.

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Board of Governors Chairman

Peter Levesque

Vice Chairman

Walter Dias

Treasurer

Tom Burns

Executive Committee Evan Auyang, Sara Yang Bosco, Steve Lackey, Ryan Mai, Alan Turley, Richard Weisman Governors David Adelman, Donald Austin, Owen Belman, Diana David, Sean Ferguson, Robert Grieves, John (Jack) E Lange, Seth Peterson, Catherine Simmons, Eric Szweda, Colin Tam, Jennifer Van Dale, Frank Wong, Patrick Wu Ex-Officio Governor President

James Sun Richard R Vuylsteke

Chamber Committees AmCham Ball Apparel & Footwear China Business Communications & Marketing Corporate Social Responsibility Education Energy Entrepreneurs/SME Environment Financial Services Food & Beverage Hospitality & Tourism Human Resources Information & Communications Technology Insurance & Healthcare

Ryan Mai Mark Green Michael Klibaner Lili Zheng Charlie Pownall Oliver Rust Pat-Nie Woo Virginia Wilson Rick Truscott Cynthia Chow Laurie Goldberg Jim Taylor Steven X Chan Veronica Sze Mark Kemper Shanthi Flynn Chris Meyrick Rex Engelking

Hanif Kanji Rebecca Harrison Jenny Wong Intellectual Property Gabriela Kennedy Clara Ingen-Housz Law Joyce Wong Pharmaceutical Robert Johnston Real Estate Edward Farrelly Terrance Philips SelectUSA Lili Zheng Philip Cheng Senior Financial Forum Bianca Wong Senior HR Forum Ivan Strunin Taxation Barrett Bingley Trade & Investment Gavin Dow Transportation & Logistics Anna-Marie C Slot Women of Influence Jennifer Parks Michael Harrington Young Professionals

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biz.hk Editorial

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eginning in December, proposals especially regarding the improvement of the Mandatory Provident Fund scheme will be a part of the overarching consultation, with the government potentially seeking the Hong Kong public for their input.

After a report commissioned by the government was filed last year by University of Hong Kong academic Nelson Chow Wing-sun, retirement protection and post-retirement income have been topics under consideration. According to the HKSAR Government, as of December 2014, the Net Asset Value of all MPF schemes combined was just under HKD$560 billion.

The most highly touted aspect of the MPF scheme under consideration will pertain to employers and their ability to utilize the MPF in offsetting severance packages. When Chief Executive CY Leung ran for election in 2012, one of his campaign promises was to seek a lowering of withdrawals from employers for payments to long-serving employees.

This, however, might be a pipe dream, as many are saying that while seeking public opinion is a first step to revamping the MPF, not much will be done to actually get rid of the clause. According to Secretary of Labor Matthew Cheung, the government has taken no official stance on this particular issue, so it remains to be seen what they will end up saying.

In its original conception, the MPF was meant to provide returns for pensioners.

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NECESSARY INPUT FOR THE MANDATORY PROVIDENT FUND However, in reality, it has given back a rate of return hovering around two percent, which is not comparable to other schemes in other economies of the same ilk.

There are other options under consideration, such as inflation-linked retail bonds, which would have longer maturity cycles than those previous issued by the government. Other inclusions that pertain to annuities could also be an additional consideration, if voiced by the public.

Since its initial launch in December 2000, the MPF scheme has undergone continuous review, but has seen minor changes in terms of its efficiency. The latest, the MPF Schemes Bill, was introduced into LegCo in July of last year, and mostly gives participants more flexibility in withdrawing accrued benefits.

There are also other administrative regulations and fee reductions that could be considered, as the procedures of the system could be streamlined and further automated for easier contribution.

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With regional competitor Singapore being one of the only countries that offers annuity products from the government, Hong Kong should seriously consider its retirement protection for its elderly citizens, especially as the population ages and has less housing in order to accommodate it.

By 2021, according to the Hong Kong Government, the population of 65 and above will increase to nearly 20 percent of the total population, and even further in the years beyond. Thus, the MPF considerations are incredibly important to the well-being of society when the population is no longer reflective of the world we see today.

The MPF is meant to provide residents of Hong Kong peace of mind and more security for its residents in their retirement age.

Therefore, the public’s input should be of utmost importance for real consideration for the government as they decide which changes are the most critical for the undertaking.

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New

Business Contacts The following people are new AmCham members: AECOM Asia Company Limited Sean Chiao President, Asia Pacific

CareerBuilder

Brian Carrillo Managing Director

Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Elaine Tam Director, Undergraduate Studies Tim Carey Professional Consultant

Citi

Terrance Philips Managing Director

Icicle Group

Steve Lee Regional Business Director, Asia Clothilde Meritet Regional Manager, Business Development

Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Betty Lau Account Representative, Cargo Sales

Flories Tsoi Director of Sales

Marriott International, Inc. Infiniti Motor Company Ltd.

Roland Krueger President Gayle Antony General Manager, Infiniti Global Human Resources

Jones Lang LaSalle

Christopher Clausen Senior Manager, Regional Research Jessica Chan Senior Project Manager

Covestro (Hong Kong) Limited Stephen Lo Chief Financial Officer

Marco Polo Hotels - Hong Kong

J.P. Morgan

Michael Falcon CEO Asia Pacific, Global Investment Management

Ramesh Daryanani Vice President, Global Sales, Asia Pacific

MetLife

Marc Parich Vice President and Chief of Staff, Asia

Microsoft Hong Kong Ltd Serena Cheung SMS&P Director

Platinum Guild International HK Limited Daniel Huw CEO

Super Dry International

Fred Birnbaum Senior Vice President, Sales - Asia

Kincannon & Reed Singapore Pte Ltd EXS Capital

Sunita Subramoniam Executive Director

Google (Hong Kong) Limited Robindhra Mangtani Senior Manager - Public Policy, Strategy & Operations

GP Strategies (Hong Kong) Limited Alvina Chou Senior Business Development Manager

Hallmark Cards (HK) Ltd

Kristin Edie Operations & Engineering Director Asia Procurement

Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Ltd, The LeeAnn Brown Director of Guest Engagement

Lelia Lim-Loges Managing Director, Asia Pacific

Korn/Ferry International Amy Kwok Principal Consultant

KPMG

Pat-Nie Woo Director, Strategic Development Weronika Anasz Senior Manager

Time Warner Inc

Chloe Li Policy Analyst Public Policy, Asia Pacific

Vinson & Elkins LLP John Zadkovich Counsel

Visa Hong Kong Limited

Caroline Ada Country Manager, Hong Kong and Macau

Yusen Logistics Laserfiche International Limited Sean Tang Vice President, International Business

Jason Seo Account Director

Zhong Lun Law Firm Mandarin Matrix Limited David Tait CEO

Peter Guang Chen Partner Sanlie Yeung Tax Executive

View our other members at: www.amcham.org.hk/memberlist

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biz.hk 10 • 2015

New Member Spotlight

Takayaki Kuboshima Occupation: South China Chief Representative, Marubeni Itochu Steel Industry: Manufacturing Member since: October 2015

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Why did you join AmCham Hong Kong?

I have been in China for nearly 20 years, the whole time with Marubeni.

We joined AmCham because it’s the largest chamber of commerce in Hong Kong. There are 50 percent of companies that are not American. We are a steel trade enterprise doing international business. For us, the more diverse clientele we have, the better.

Therefore, we joined AmCham.

Can you introduce more about your business?

We are Marubeni Itochu, a joint venture. I originally was with Marubeni, but in 2001, the two companies merged their steel businesses to what it is today. Although we started 14 years ago, both have always been involved in this trade.

How is business?

Business in China is very difficult to do. There are three main reasons.

The first is, Hong Kong clientele are all going to China now. The second is, our original clientele used to rely upon imported material from Japan, Korea, Taiwan and other countries. Now, China has raised its standards in terms of support and ability to work, so now more clientele are starting to use Mainland Chinese steel. The third is, much of our clientele that imports steel has factories where they use their machinery, then export. Nowadays, the policies make it tougher for clients to

re-export this way. It makes business very tough.

How will you overcome those challenges?

Importing is very difficult to do, but with China’s improvements, we will focus more on exporting to China.

We will leverage Hong Kong, since in terms of law, finance, and economics, the environment is very good. We can become a global company by using Hong Kong as a headquarters for global purchasing. We negotiate business and pricing here with our clients which are global companies and have their own factories – countries such as Mexico, Malaysia, India, and Thailand. Other than the clientele we have now, I believe there is great opportunity to find such companies in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has many initial public offerings. Also, with many companies headquartered in Europe, they come here. Some companies may go to Singapore, but other than that, they won’t go to Japan or Taiwan. Our company has larger scale in Singapore, but we are growing here.

What are your favorite aspects about Hong Kong?

The atmosphere of freedom (especially for the Internet). You can’t describe that atmosphere. The food here is also better. Everything here is better to eat than in Guangzhou, and the food is safer. The air is better too.

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COVER STORY

Karen Reddington

Forward Thinking Karen Reddington, president of Asia Pacific for FedEx, has been a stalwart in the logistics industry. Having relocated officially to Hong Kong, she speaks as to what she sees as the future of the company, her new role leading Asia Pacific, and why she cares so much about educating the next generation

By Blessing Waung

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Photos: Silver Image

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o be at the forefront of the logistics industry, one must be centered immediately above where the action is happening. Dr. Karen Reddington is just that.

In January, Reddington moved back to Hong Kong as the president of Asia Pacific for FedEx to succeed David Cunningham Jr., who is now the company’s chief operating officer.

When asked if she thought she would be sitting in the president’s seat 18 years into her career here, Reddington laughs, “Oh, heavens, no. Not at all.”

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The transition back to Hong Kong hasn’t been a difficult one, rather more like a homecoming, Reddington says.

While based in Singapore in her previous role as vice president of South Pacific for FedEx, she would often travel back and forth.

“I think FedEx [has] given me great opportunities that I never imagined. I think, just taking that first step as I did, and moving internationally, that was the first big step and the rest of the journey with FedEx has just been one exciting twist and turn after another.”

Reddington first arrived in Hong

Kong in 1997, as an operations research advisor for the global courier giant. Her academic background includes a doctorate from the London School of Economics in operations research.

“Hong Kong is the headquarters so the good thing about starting in the headquarters office is, you do get to be involved and see a lot of the change,” Reddington says. “I think really, since I’ve joined, I’ve been quite lucky and that is lots of story of growth, ballooning up of China. And you really got to see that quite dramatically sitting in Hong Kong.”

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Since coming onboard at FedEx, the executive says she has spent a lot of time with her team in order to set the tone. Her primary objective is to continue solving with innovation, and the way she goes about doing so is by going out to markets, meeting people whom she says are on “at the front line” and understanding what they are doing locally to shape and change the way business is done. Flexibility, in an ever-evolving industry, is what keeps them empowered to serve their customers.

“Over the period I’ve been [with FedEx], our hub was built in Guang-

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zhou and we recently added our hub in Singapore and the North Pacific hub in Kansai Airport. It’s been quite a dramatic 20 years, and I think it’s been a story of two hubs. The first one being growth in and the opening up of China and the second part is really the emergence of e-commerce and technology.”

“Twenty years ago, FedEx was fueled by electronics, and our value proposition was providing capacity and speed. The ‘Asian tigers’ were experiencing meteoric growth, thanks to exports of consumer electronics, computers and peripherals, telecom parts and computers.”

“[Now] SMEs are ‘going global’ in droves and taking advantage of the opportunity to sell goods in overseas markets,” says Reddington.

Regional role As she pointed out in the AmCham China Conference in September, China delivered nearly 14 billion packages last year, which was a whopping 52 percent increase from the year before. In fact, according to China’s State Post Bureau, nearly two-thirds of all the packages moving through the national postal system last year were

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related to e-commerce. That figure stands to grow.

“The thing that people often overlook is just how important China has become in terms of Asia Pacific inter-regional trade,” Reddington says.

“Now it accounts for about 47 percent of all of ASEAN total trade. For us, it’s not just about China, but it’s also about the rise in that inter-regional trade that’s great news to both economies such as Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, countries that still have growth projections.”

Growth projections for this region are still between 5 to 6.5 percent for the next few years, so in conversations about “The New Normal” Reddington says the company’s goal is to support and enable those growth figures.

“The market is changing so rapidly and there is no way somebody sitting in one location could really be able to say ‘This is what we’re going to do’,” Reddington says. “What I see as part of my role is to be somewhat of a listening post, understanding what’s happening locally but also giving our people the freedom to really look at how they can solve some of these challenges with innovation.

“In Asia Pacific, you can have some umbrella solutions, but also there are lots of local nuances that you have to be quite respectful of and embrace specifically within the local market.”

“Our job is trying to make sure that we stay flexible in treating our customers. We’ve done things such as opening up in 7-Eleven in Taiwan, so that customers can collect their packages,” Reddington says. “[We’re also] providing evening deliveries in Singapore to residential customers.”

This year alone, FedEx extended its services to 5,000 7-Eleven stores across Taiwan, which multiplied the presence sixfold.

E-commerce revolution “One example of this is the explosive growth of e-commerce. Global B2C e-commerce sales are projected to rise to US$2 trillion this year, up

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from US$1.5 trillion last year, and this has caused a corresponding surge in demand for shipments of goods purchased online,” Reddington points out. Indeed, e-commerce sales in Asia Pacific are expected to reach US$681.2 billion this year, which makes it the largest market for e-commerce in the world.

Reddington is also looking at another sector, the healthcare industry, which she believes will fuel the growth of express logistics. According to a report from Infiniti Research, it will grow at a rate of about 11 percent over the next few years.

“In terms of how customers interact with information, the Internet and the smartphone era, [it] has heralded a sea change. Twenty years ago, without this technology, it would have been impossible for a customer to check the status of a package status online.”

Today, however, Reddington cites FedEx’s adaptation to this change, with solutions developed specifically for mobile devices, for easy shipment tracking, notifications and customer feedback. The product Reddington seems most excited about is SenseAware, FedEx’s service that provides almost real-time access to a shipment’s vital statistics while in transit, and the ability to share that information continually. With this technology, she says, customers can better control their supply chain and have up-to-date information of their most critical and time-sensitive shipments.

“Now you can track things like temperature, humidity and exactly where your package is at any time. And so, we’re all very passionate about those changes in the marketplace that to some extent, shape our business and how we make shifts to meet those, but also about the technological change that we can start to invite and provide great solutions for our customers.”

In good company Besides investing in innovations to their operation, FedEx has also spent a great deal of time and resources in

their employees. Programs range from training for management staff on working with their employees to an effective feedback mechanism that employees can feel engaged in. The company makes sure that its workers have career development opportunities for mature development or moving up the company.

“We do have a lot of people that get promoted from within the company. I think a part of that is it definitely feels like more of a family because if I go around the region now, it’s wonderful because I have the opportunity to link up again with people in my career that I worked for,” Reddington explains.

“I didn’t expect to stay for this long in Asia as I did when I joined FedEx. I certainly wanted to join a company, stay with it and be involved in the growth of that company because that is what I enjoy.”

Next generation In addition to her role at FedEx, Reddington is a member of the Executive Committee of Junior Achievement Hong Kong, a charity dedicated to empowering the youth in “Work Readiness, Entrepreneurial Thinking and Financial Literacy.”

At the FedEx Express/Junior

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Achievement International Trade Challenge in August, a team from New Zealand won the challenge with their business proposition for creating a market entry strategy for a fast food chain hypothetically set in Cuba.

FedEx has been a corporate sponsor of Junior Achievement for a number of years, and with the International Trade Challenge hosted in Singapore, Reddington says she had the opportunity to witness young people’s initial education on how to get engaged in global trade, and what it means to enter marketplaces in the modern economy.

“Every country in the world is at different stages of development and exposure, but it’s great to see young people coming from places like Vietnam, Singapore, Japan; in some

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cases, [they] connect over the web and talk to each other about what they’re doing in their region, so we see it as a wonderful way to connect the next generation to the global business world,” Reddington says.

Because of her success in her career, to those who have approached her for advice, she says, “Take up

challenges as they come. Don’t be afraid to change the conditions, because you will learn something new in every role. You’re going to have to take lots of steps before you either move along the ladder, or up the ladder, but at every step you take, you learn a little bit more that helps you along the way.”

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TRADE AND INVESTMENT

Smart and Safe: Investment in Utah Ranked as the number one state for business and careers by Forbes magazine for four out of the past five years, Utah is angling for the Asian market to come and experience why others are excited about doing business

By Blessing Waung

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t’s a little-known secret that out of the entire United States, one state considers Hong Kong its largest export market. That state is Utah. In 2014, the state posted altogether USD$1.8 billion to Hong Kong, which represented just under 15 percent of the state’s total merchandise exports.

What exactly is the relationship between Hong Kong and Utah, and what is the former importing from the state? Governor Gary R. Herbert came in September with a delegation of

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business leaders looking for outbound investment, where he spoke of the strengths of doing business together and why Hong Kong and Utah are a symbiotic fit.

“Many people in this room here witnessed us go from the depths of the recession where we had around nine percent unemployment rate,” Herbert says. “Our unemployment rate is now between 3.5-3.6 percent, and we’ve also diversified our economy, which is now the fourth most diversified economy in the United States. Our future’s very

bright indeed because of good principles that put us on the right track in Utah, I would say, similarly to what we find here in Hong Kong.”

According to the presentation given

by Val Hale, Executive Director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, there were many “fits” between Utah and Hong Kong. For example, in the financial services industry, Goldman Sachs has their third-largest operations in the world based in Salt Lake City. In the aerospace and defense industry, the

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Governor Gary R. Herbert

state is strong in composite manufacturing, creating materials with carbon fiber, airplane parts for Airbus and Boeing. And in the life sciences, Utah has very strong biomedical programs.

“We’re very business-friendly, we empower the private sector, we encourage investment, and we want to have the risk-takers come take the risk! And as you create wealth, you create jobs, the economy grows and expands and everybody benefits. It’s the rising tide that raises all boats on the pond,” Herbert says

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The core industry sectors that are Utah’s strengths include: life sciences, energy and natural resources, software development and IT, aerospace and defense, outdoor products and recreation, and financial services.

Positive business climate One of the top reasons to do business in Utah, according to Herbert and his colleagues, is the beneficial tax climate.

All domestic and foreign corporations are required to pay a flat five percent income or franchise tax on all income earned in Utah, which has remained unchanged for nearly two decades.

While the cumulative GDP growth of the United States has hovered around five percent over the past decade, in Utah, it’s grown nearly 10 percent.

With the Economic Development Tax Increment Financing (EDTIF) incentive, there is a post-performance, refundable tax credit for up to 30 percent of new state revenues over the entirety of a project, which typically runs from five to 10 years. This includes sales, corporate, and withholding taxes, paid to the state, and is available to companies looking to relocate and/or expand their operations to Utah.

China’s current investment in Utah, OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line) established an integrated management and service center in Utah. Val Hale was there to christen their new ship. “We are now so

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happy to have you as a part of Utah’s culture and they’ll be hiring about 300 people in Utah to help expand their business,” Herbert says. “It’s a mutual benefit, a prime example.”

“Or the XIO group, a Hong Kongbased alternative investment group, acquired the Israeli-based company called Lumenis, for approximately 510 million dollars. They’re involved with eye-care products, which are manufactured in Salt Lake City.”

The list goes on, with massive mergers such as Shanghai International Holdings Limited’s USD$4.72 billion acquisition of Smithfield Foods, whose parent company is based in Milford, Utah.

Bilingual advantage Committed to a bilingual education,

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Utah is home to more than a third of all the Mandarin dual language schools in the nation. “One of the advantages that Utah has is that we are very much bilingual,” says Governor Herbert. “We speak the world’s languages, and as I came in as governor - at the depths of the great recession - we said, as a state, we’re going to focus on growing the economy.”

“We speak in Utah 130 languages,” he says. “We’re unique, we are the most bilingual state in America. And if you are going to be involved in international trade, it certainly helps to speak the languages. It’s nice here in Hong Kong that with English, you can get by with pretty well. But the ability to come here and speak the language of many which is English, is again, one of the secret successes of Hong Kong. We have the ability to go around the world as Utahns because of our language capabilities.”

As one of the pioneering states in

the US for foreign language education, 33 schools in Utah currently offer Chinese dual language immersion programs, which outnumbers any other state in the US. Through the Utah Dual Language Immersion Program, students spend half their school day learning in English, and the other half completely in their target language.

Many of these programs begin when children are five years old. The other languages offered are Spanish, French and Portuguese.

“I remember when I was on my first trip to Beijing, I met with a member of the Communist Party [working in economic development], and I was surprised how aware he was about Utah.

And halfway around the world, we sometimes feel like we’re out there in the rocky mountains of Utah – but for him to talk about what was taking place in Utah, asking how the Jazz were doing (he was a big fan) and wanting to know how Jerry Sloan had retired and why they traded D-Will [basketball player Deron Williams] … I was just taken aback by how much they knew about Utah.”

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Looking ahead Herbert is the Chair of the National Governors Association, and says he often works closely with his colleagues on the economic development of their own individual states.

“I think, anybody – governor, any elected official – should have a vision for the responsibility,” Herbert says. “I don’t care it’s a local mayor, a city council, county commissioner, state legislator, governor, congressman, senator, but you have to have a vision for your responsibility.”

“But that means you also ought to set a goal – it’s not a matter of just having a vision. If all you have is a vision, it’s probably a dream, but if you set goals then you can actually put steps in place of how to accomplish the goal.

I came in and we created a 10-step

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economic development program, which by the way has been copied by the states, which I believe is okay because I don’t believe it’s a zero-sum game, but we put steps in place and our goal was to become the premier business, economic development place in America. And so we want to be number one, the best, that’s pretty bold.”

“My father had a slogan he taught me and it’s kind of our family slogan, which really kind of represents the attitude of Utah and that was, ‘Work will win, when wishy washy wishing won’t.’ We are, a very much a culture in Utah, of work,” Herbert says.

“We understand: roll up your sleeves, pull yourself up by your

bootstraps, and succeed. We maybe don’t have some of the brilliance that others have, but we have a work ethic which is second to none. We will work shoulder to shoulder to succeed, and part of what we are doing here with our outreach for international efforts is to see opportunities for us to work together. To roll up our sleeves and find opportunities of success.”

“I want to continue to have people say, ‘Utah, great quality of life, great place to live, raise a family and do business.’ All three things, if we do that, we’ll be very successful indeed.”

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TRADE & INVESTMENT

A New Era For Hong Kong’s Competition Regime Compliance with the Competition Ordinance cannot be achieved at a flick of a switch; companies should start preparations before the law’s full implementation in mid-December, says Anna Wu, Chairperson of Hong Kong’s Competition Commission

By Nan-Hie In

T

he Competition Ordinance, which was passed by the city’s legislature in 2012, will come into full force on December 14th, a crosssector competition regime to safeguard a level-playing field and free access to the Hong Kong market.

For Anna Wu Hung-yuk, the Chairperson of Hong Kong’s Competition Commission (HKCC), it has been a long journey to get to this point. Wu has a

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long history of public service in Hong Kong, previously chairing the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, Equal Opportunities Commission and the Consumer Council. A lawyer by training, she first got involved in competition law in the 1990s during her tenure at the consumer watchdog.

“We did quite a lot of sector studies ranging from telecommunications and broadcasting, fuel, building maintenance, supermarkets and so forth and

it was from there that I learned a lot about competition policy and law, and one thing led to another,” she explains at a recent AmCham talk about this new regime.

The Executive Councillor says that after years of debate and consultation, the city finally has the law, which is a good start. She also praised the AmCham’s contributions to the drafting of the law. “Consultations and reports from the Chamber have shaped

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that businesses with substantial degree of market power must not abuse that power. For example, exploiting that power to the detriment of consumers or restricting competition is prohibited. “It is only when an undertaking seeks to use that power, for example, to exclude the competitor from the market, that concerns may arise,” she says.

Thirdly there is the Merger Rule, which only applies to the telecommunications industry. “This prohibits mergers that may substantially lessen competition [in Hong Kong].”

There are varying degrees of consequences for those liable for anti-competitive conduct, from notices to the offending company, to more severe sanctions such as being taken to the Hong Kong Competition Tribunal.

The Tribunal has a range of powers that include fining an undertaking a pecuniary penalty up to 10 percent of its annual turnover and disqualifying directors of the undertaking.

The introduction of competition law in Hong Kong is long overdue, says Wu. “It is a very curious anomaly for this place of free enterprise to not have one but we have it today which makes it a bit easier to tell everyone around the world that we have a competition regime that uses the same principles in America, the UK, the EU and Singapore.”

More to come

many aspects of our competition law when it was enacted in 2012.”

The final stage is to undergo the negative vetting process at the Legislative Council for the remaining provisions of the Ordinance to go into effect. Its passage is likely.

The rules The Ordinance defines three key rules for competition in Hong Kong.

biz.hk 10 • 2015

The First Conduct Rule bars anti-competitive agreements amongst competitors or parties at different levels of the supply chain. “The most serious of these are cartel agreements that seek to fix price, share market, limit output or rig bids; these are regarded as serious anti-competitive conduct and [this rule is] applicable to all businesses, big, small or medium,” explains Wu. The Second Conduct Rule states

The HKCC will publish various documents in the run-up to the law’s full implementation. In July this year, the statutory body released a revised set of guidelines on the competition rules and how the authority will interpret and apply the relevant provisions of the Ordinance. More statements are expected to be released shortly, like the commission’s leniency policy.

The policy will outline how a cartel member who comes forward to report cartel conducts and divulge how the cartel operates, can receive leniency under the policy, especially if the information provided cuts short the authority’s investigation time,

19

resource application and so forth.

The Chairperson says this policy is vital for the law enforcement agency to tackle cartels. “They are usually organized and implemented in secret, making them very difficult to detect, so it is necessary to design a practical and effective set of policies to deal with this kind of conduct and to tell people what we will do when given significant information,” she explains. Many competition authorities around the world have this type of arrangement.

Also to be released soon: an enforcement priority document to reveal how the HKCC intends to use its limited resources by prioritizing areas for its enforcement efforts. Much focus will be on serious anti-competitive conduct.

“We are going to be influenced by a number of factors. These will include: whether there has been substantial harm to consumers, whether or not it would drive high productivity gains, whether or not there have been situations affecting entry to the market, and if serious barriers that have been built up,” she says.

Advice for companies Before the critical date of commencement, there are various steps companies could take to ensure they are in compliance with the latest rules and regulations.

Firstly, bring the competition compliance to the board’s attention.

“In recent years if you look at topics like anti-bribery and corruption, health and safety measures, environmental concerns, equal opportunity and diversity issues, they all gained prominence on a board level and as a result, structures and policies across companies [were installed] to help them better manage the myriad of risks that businesses face today,” Wu says. She urges companies to put the competition law on the board agenda and keep it there as it also produces value for companies.

Secondly, look at the organization’s corporate culture, including its

20

compliance culture. “If your company doesn’t yet have a competition compliance program, now is the time to consider putting that in place. Don’t wait for a court to order it.”

She cites the case of a tech giant in the US that became liable for its central role in cartel conduct of e-book pricing, which resulted in a courtordered external monitor of the company to oversee its anti-trust compliance and to conduct annual compliance audits. “This is not what you would prefer; the ideal way is to design your own culture and processes and this is a good way of mitigating your risks both in your business and also in court,” the Chairperson Anna Wu explains. CONTACT US TODAY Changing the company’s culture is Richard – Asia never easy but Ivey she School sharesof Business three suggestions to stir shifts within theInstitute against business titans in Hong Kong Cheng Yu Tung Management organization. with unlimited resources, industry Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre Start by showing the company’s giants that can Hong hire Kong an army of top Phase I, Room S422, Level 4, 1 Harbour Rd. Wanchai, commitment to compliance of the lawyers for its defense, Wu acknowlTel: +852 852 2135 2288 | Email: executives@ivey.com.hk regime from top-down. “A policy or edged that limited resources is the company statement from the board to HKCC’s biggest restraint. “We have the whole of the organization would good in-house lawyers and where help the message to get through; not appropriate, we will also seek the help only should directors be familiar with of senior barristers to take our cases it but salesmen on the street need to for us so we have made that type of [be aware of it].” preparation,” she says. However, the Also, conduct a risk assessment of Chairperson claims the HKCC still the company’s existing practices and needs more money to cover its litigaits long-term contracts to identify any tion expenses. Ultimately the city has provisions that could be troublesome to foot the bill. and amend them now. “When the law “We need to manage our budget comes to effect on December 14th, it and build a track record and pattern should cut through the middle of over the kind of needs we have,” says long-term company contracts, which Wu. “The government has not said no will give you a lot more problems,” she but that they need some justification says. so that is where I am at; hopefully it It would be wise to consult experts will be resolved.” such as lawyers, auditors and tax advisors to help you decide whether changes need to be made before midNan-Hie In is a freelance journalist December. based in Hong Kong covering current Thirdly, install appropriate affairs, lifestyle and entertainment in processes to mitigate and change those Asia. A regular contributor to local and practices which may likely contravene international media outlets, she has the new law. This could require staff written for the South China Morning training and enshrining oversight Post, CNN (Business Traveller), the systems in the organization for ongoChina Daily, HongKong.Coconuts.co, ing compliance to detect potential risk Prestige and more. areas.

Asked how the authority will go

biz.hk 10 • 2015

Ivey Executive Education Programs At Ivey, our unique learning method, immersive environment and world-class faculty all come together to deliver a learning experience unlike any other. Ivey Asia’s Executive Education Programs are designed with relevance to Hong Kong and China context. With consortium programs aimed for high-potential managers to senior executives, application driven cases put executives in the role of decision-maker to tackle real challenges faced by real companies. Executives will leave with new knowledge and ideas that are directly applicable to their organizations with immediate impact. We also design and deliver custom programs that are tailored to meet the challenges that organization faces.

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ENTREPRENEURS/SMES

The Office

2.0

The workplace can be so much more than just the place where employees go to clock in and clock out. Office furniture leader Steelcase believes the right use of office space can lead to happier and more productive workers

By Leon Lee

S

itting in the conference room of Steelcase, you automatically understand that they do things differently around there. Rather than having the standard long conference table that stretches from one side of the room to the other, they have two

22

smaller tables separated with an aisle in between. The height of the tables were higher than a standard table and accompanied by tall, bar stool height office chairs.

These were all done by design as they explained it. A traditional conference table makes it hard for collabora-

tions because if several people want to have a discussion on a project during a meeting, they would either need to talk across the table or walk all the way around. However, with the two separate table setup, they can simply walk across to share their ideas. As for the higher tables and chairs, the reason is that people normally can’t sit in one position for very long. With the

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Photos: Steelcase

higher chairs and tables, they can choose to stand or sit and switch positions during meetings, making it a more natural environment to stimulate discussion.

Its innovations like these have made Steelcase one of the worldwide leaders in the office furniture business.

“We really design products to create a great work experience for people who use our products. It’s not just about building nice or goodlooking products. Every product really makes the lives of our users better,” explains Uli Gwinner, President, Steelcase Asia Pacific.

“Combine this with great quality and a lot of commitment from our side with service, like our lifelong warranty scheme. I think with this consistency

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of product and service offerings, our customers are happy around the world.

We really try to serve and help our customers worldwide.”

An ever-growing company Steelcase started in Grand Rapids, Michigan over 100 years ago. They originally manufactured a metal office furniture such as safes, filing cabinets and wastebaskets before moving onto other office furniture. In the 1970s, they began expanding overseas to Europe and Asia.

In the beginning, the company used an export model working with dealers in Japan, China and India but eventually they began operating their own offices. In 2008, Steelcase acquired Hong Kong-based office furniture business Ultra, signaling a

serious commitment to China.

Previously, their focus in Asia was on Japan and Australia but their sights have now shifted towards the emerging markets in China and India. Gwinner first realized the potential in 2005 when he was still back in his native Germany as he learned in that year, Volkswagen sold more cars in China than in Germany.

However, like everyone else, they experienced a hit during the financial crisis in 2008. They had some setbacks and declines but quickly rebounded.

Gwinner saw the silver lining in the setback. “It almost helped us because in this type of cooldown of growth, you can prune your tree a little bit, you can reorganize your capacity and your strategy and then come back very strong.” Steelcase did rebound with strong growth and they still see lots of growth opportunities in Asia.

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Although they had great success in the United States and Europe, Steelcase recognized they had to make some adjustments when they started operating in Asia.

“Coming to Asia Pacific, we had to learn that the needs here in Asia can be very different to the needs in Europe and the Americas,” the president says. “We try to really understand what the needs of our customers are in these different parts of the world.”

For Hong Kong, some of the adjustments were related to that real estate is very expensive and wages for the majority of people, when compared to San Francisco or New York, are relatively low.

“We found out that there’s a certain formula of investment per employee in the workplace setting in percentage of gross salary. You have to supply relatively cost-effective workplaces into very tiny spaces because real estate is so expensive. This is for Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. This is a big adjustment,” Gwinner explains.

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Because of the lack of space, Steelcase had to work with requests that would make offices feel compressed or very dense. But this isn’t part of the company’s philosophy.

“People think they can do that by giving every person a small workstation but we believe this is the wrong strategy. It’s much better to give up giving people fixed workstations.

Instead, try to make your people work mobile. This gives you the opportunity to create space which you can use in a collaborative way so you have more fun, more people working together.”

They would advise their clients that instead of a spectacular conference room, they should consider creating a work café where staff can enjoy coffee or tea while working together. Companies could scale back on stunning welcoming areas and instead put in relaxation zones where their workers can relax from night shifts or overnight calls. Steps like these increase the level of engagement among workers, making for a much more productive working environment. It was calculated that in 2013, disengagement in the workplace costs

E LAC NT RKP ME WO AGE G EN

Local needs

013 IN 2

Uli Gwinner

companies in United States US$450 to 550 billion.

“In Hong Kong, China and a lot of emerging markets, there’s still this kind of paradigm that presence into performance. But I think this is a big mistake if you believe that if people are present, they will work harder,” Gwinner says.

“Our advice is all organization is to give your people more freedom, give them responsibility, give them clear targets and let them decide where they want to work. Then you can design the small space you have in a much more attractive way and then people are coming in voluntarily because they enjoy being in that office… From a corporate perspective, you would, in fact, raise the employer proposition in the view of your employees. It can be a great thing.”

Gwinner thinks most Hong Kong offices are boring as they are full of panels, walls and separation. The bosses’ offices all have windows but they’re never there as they’re always travelling. Thus, he says the assistants who are always in the office should have the windows seats instead. “The more time people are spending in the office, the closer they should be to the window. In our philosophy, the leader does not necessarily need a room or even a fixed

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desk. I do not have a fixed desk because I’m travelling 200 days a year.”

In his opinion, 90 percent of workplaces in Hong Kong are outdated and need to be renovated. He sees opportunities for both Steelcase and the companies who use the space. “They pay so much rent anyway so why not say this is not a cost, this is an asset I can convert into something great for my company. A lot of companies which think ahead and are open to our ideas clearly see the workplace as a marketing factor for them to attract talent and to provide a better face for the company.”

But he understands that it doesn’t always fit. Not all banks or law firms can or want to follow the Google or Facebook model. Steelcase believes that a company’s workplace strategy has to fit their corporate culture.

More and more Chinese companies are becoming receptive to their ideas. Gwinner attributes it to the new generation of decision-makers coming into power who might have been educated overseas or worked in Silicon Valley or other trendy companies.

“They say, ‘Wow, this is actually the way we want to work.’ So as soon as they move to the driver seats of companies, for sure they are driving new workplace strategies.”

biz.hk 10 • 2015

26%

Beyond the office Besides a wide assortment of chairs, desks, storage cabinets and other office furniture, Steelcase also creates furniture for schools. However, compared to the United States, that market is not as robust over here yet. Gwinner attributes it to the teaching culture and methodology.

“If you look into China, they’re still much more what I would call conservative teaching. What we are in fact preaching is what we call interactive learning, where the teacher is more of a moderator amongst the students. Peer-to-peer, student-to-student learning is more important than learning from the teacher or professor. If you approach the Chinese teachers with this, they are kind of open to it but it will probably take another decade or so till this gets wide acceptance.”

There have been some success with international schools and universities.

Recently, Steelcase worked with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University on how space design can promote learning at their chic Jockey Club Innovation Tower in Hung Hom. It’s been outfitted with Steelcase furniture in its classrooms, project rooms, design studio, staff offices and meeting rooms.

Looking to the future, Gwinner believes there is a lot to be done in creating smart offices.

“At the moment we are bringing all our smart devices to the office, but these smart devices are still not really connected to the space where we are working. We are expecting there will be a lot of development in this arena in the coming five years,” he says.

“Probably in five years, all furniture products we will be doing will carry some type of sensors. If you think about wearables, your chair is also a kind of a wearable. It’s a piece of fabric which is close to your body.”

As for the business, Gwinner is very optimistic about Steelcase in Asia. He points out that while they are very successful in the US and Europe, it took the company a hundred years to achieve that. So compared to that, they are still pretty young in Asia.

“If you look at the workforce size in China and India, we strongly believe that these two markets will become anchor markets for Steelcase over time,” he says.

“Looking at the growth which we have experienced over the last seven years, we believe we can experience it over the next 10 years. So even if it might be a little bit slower with the China growth rate, it still will be sufficient to make this business grow significantly.

That’s why the philosophy is that Asia will be the significant pillar of our global business in the near future.”

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ENTREPRENEURS/SMES

Good Work With diversifying ideas about what ergonomics really means in today’s workplace, Steelcase is undertaking smart research to create the future of the workplace

By Leon Lee

W

hen you’re sitting at your desk at work for long periods of time every day, it’s important to have right chair. But what exactly is the right chair? Is it one that offers superior back support? Is it one that has the most comfortable seating?

In the past, ergonomics was a popular buzzword when it came to office furniture design. But according to Michael Held, Director of Design at Steelcase Asia Pacific, the use and understanding of ergonomics has evolved.

“There are two sides to ergonomics.

One of them is maybe the more dated perception which is in a time when people had a job where you were required to sit at a desk for eight to 10 hours a day, you needed very high performing furniture that would support you through the day so that when you went home, you wouldn’t have back pains, posture problems, or things like that,” Held explains.

Offices in the eighties and nineties were designed for workers to stay at their desks and do their work. The use of ergonomics then dealt with issues such as the distance of the eye to the computer screen and what is the right posture for the worker’s hands to avoid carpal tunnel syndrome.

26

“Today that is still applicable to some people in offices… But the vast majority of people in offices today don’t sit for eight hours at their desk.”

People would visit other offices for meetings, work in cafes or coffee shops or perhaps even work from home as it might be easier to concentrate there.

Only in very specific industries such as software engineering are workers expected to sit for long stretches of very concentrated work.

In offices today, you would find much more diversity in regards to ergonomics as the idea of productivity has changed.

“We acknowledge that nobody is productive for eight hours a day. We may be productive twice a day for 15 minutes or there is this one really important coincidence every day that

triggers your imagination or creativity,” Held says.

He explains that a person can stay in that productive, creative state for about 45 minutes. This is why many classes in schools last that long. Steelcase aims to foster and maximize that amount of productivity time with their products.

The need to move Since people today are not meant to work all the time at their desks, it’s important to provide the space for them to move around. Space is important to the engagement of employees. Steelcase strongly believes in choice: where employees choose to work and how they work.

biz.hk 10 • 2015

Michael Held

“We believe that one big element to unlocking the engagement at work is the workplace. That means we have to provide a variety of places to work, a variety of postures to work. In our offices, you don’t see that it is all desks or everybody is at a workstation. You can choose to be private and focus on your work or you can choose to be out in the open or you can choose to go into a collaborative space and collaborate with other people.

You’re not forced in one way or another because every type of work would require different contexts,” Held explains.

For examples, taking phone calls can be done in a lounge setup, collaborative work can take place at a work cafe and low-cognitive tasks such as writing emails can be done while walking on a treadmill.

biz.hk 10 • 2015

“There is the ratio between fixed desks and collaborative spaces so this is something, from a design perspective, that we can develop solutions for each of those areas.”

In Hong Kong and many places in Asia, he sees companies make the mistake believing that if they have 8,000 employees, they would need to design 8,000 workstations. According to Steelcase’s research, they should instead have 50 to 60 workstations and an additional 20 spaces collaboratively because not everybody is in the office everyday so having a fixed desk for everyone is quite wasteful.

Asia offers a variety of growth markets for Steelcase, many of whom have space and density concerns. It’s a current focus for their research and insights for product development.

“Without the luxury of space or the luxury of designing three different places for every worker, how can we provide flexibility? How can we humanize density and how can we foster dyadic collaborations in a way traditional furniture today does not?”

These are questions that Steelcase is trying to solve.

As Held puts it, they are working on “seating that gives you a little bit more sense of this is the space that belongs to me”. They currently have a chair called Personality which is narrow and appears smaller than it is which is ideal for fitting a large number into a room. It doesn’t make the room feel cramp, yet still offer the sitter a comfortable chair and the ergonomics benefits.

Research is key Steelcase invests heavily in research.

Based on the data collected, they create unique insights which are usually the beginning for product development.

They have their own research team in Asia-Pacific which is put to good use.

According to Held, a lot of the furniture in the area are ones developed in North America or Europe or were inspired by them. Asian brands offer a similar version of those. But Steelcase believes that if the company is in a high growth environment, they have needs that are

different from North America or Europe.

But research and insight are just the beginning of the development process.

There are other aspects to consider.

“Chairs can mean different things.

They can give you a different perception, and they can support you in different ways. They might all look a little similar to people,” Held says.

“But it’s not about if the chair is beautiful or not. It’s more about how you look at it and you feel, ‘this is a chair that looks very comfortable’ or ‘this is a chair that looks like it protects me’. There are chairs like the Gesture that supports you to bring smart devices into the office.”

The executive describes the Gesture as their flagship chair. It’s a good example of ergonomics and task seating as it was very much inspired by users of smart devices. It has armrests that can be positioned in a large variety of positions besides just up and down. It can be adjusted depending on whether the users are using smaller mobile phones or working on larger tablets.

Normal office chairs weren’t designed with smart devices in mind because they didn’t exist then. But Steelcase had insight to realize the growing penetration of mobile devices in our everyday lives so they began development on the Gesture chair several years ago.

Desks are just as important as chairs. Steelcase offers a wide range from height adjustable to ones equipped with a treadmill. “I think nowadays people might even argue that [a desk] is more because a desk allows you to stand up and you work without a chair. With the chair you can only sit.

We do have some chairs that can do more but it depends on what kind of context. Chairs are very important but we believe in diversity,” he says.

Going back to ergonomics, Held emphasizes it goes beyond the right sitting posture.

“Ergonomics has a lot more elements to it than just sitting. It’s also about the height of storage elements, the height of sitting, what is the right height to work. It deals with the human scale of things.”

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GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

Wading The Political Waters of Hong Kong Tired of seeing constant issues go unaddressed in his adoptive home, ex-US navy officer and businessman David Schaus is hoping to bring his big ideas to improve life for the residents in the Bays Area constituency in his election bid for District Council in November

By Georgia McCafferty

David Schaus

T

he 2016 US Presidential race may have begun in earnest, but one expatriate American has set his sights on a different type of office, right here in Hong Kong.

Maritime businessman and ex-US Navy officer, David Schaus, has better hair than Donald Trump, but like the presidential hopeful, he also has big ideas for change. And while he is more likely to be found in overalls than a suit and tie, he also has a commanding way with words.

But for all his youth and energy, Schaus faces significant challenges in

28

his bid to run as an independent candidate for councillor of Hong Kong’s Bays Area Constituency in elections to be held on November 22nd.

Covering Shouson Hill, Deep Water Bay, Repulse Bay, and portions of Chung Hom Kok and Wong Chuk Hang, the district includes some of Hong Kong’s richest residents – Li Ka-shing among them – as well as a mix of middle-class families and grassroots villages. Some of these voters, especially older local residents, are likely to have misgivings about an expatriate representative.

At the same time the incumbent councillor, Liberal party member Fergus Fung Se-goun, has been the Bay Area representative since 2007.

One of the founders of food magazine, WOM Guide, Fung is a respected Hong Kong businessman who enjoys support from many established local families and is well known in the community.

However, Schaus, who lives in Repulse Bay, is a man on a mission to fix the problems he says he sees in his local area every day. Disappointed by what he describes as Fung’s lack of action on the area’s on-going traffic

biz.hk 10 • 2015

problems, he finally decided to run for council himself while sitting in traffic, when he should have been at home with his family.

“The thing that’s really got me fired up to run for district council is the terrible traffic congestion in our district,” Schaus says. “When I look around I don’t see any action being taken, certainly none being taken by any of our elected officials to deal with this, and maybe part of that is because our current district councillor doesn’t even live in our district.”

From New Hampshire to Hong Kong

Schaus, who was born in New York but raised in New Hampshire, was awarded a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corp scholarship (NROTC) when he was in high school and went on to study mechanical engineering at Auburn University in Alabama.

Commissioned as an Ensign in the US Navy on the same day he graduated from college, he met his future wife, Mary Totin, while conducting pre-deployment training in Norfolk, Virginia. After finishing his training, his first duty station was on USS La Salle, which was stationed in Gaeta, Italy, where he earned his surface warfare qualification.

Totin, who was herself completing law school, visited Schaus 11 times over the two years he was in Italy, and on completion of his tour of duty on La Salle they got married. Schaus’ next assignment was as the ship’s navigator on USS Gonzalez, after which he was transferred to Hong Kong and, in layperson’s terms, became the US port operations officer.

In this role Schaus kept things running smoothly when US Navy ships docked in Hong Kong, including managing the ships’ provisions, setting up water taxis to transfer personnel to and from the boats and working with the Hong Kong government to manage anchorages.

“Sometimes, when the sailors had a bit too much fun I even got to go

biz.hk 10 • 2015

down to the police station in Wan Chai and give them a helping hand home,” Schaus says. “I could tell stories for hours, but it was an overwhelmingly positive experience working with the consulate there.”

But at the end of his three-year assignment in Hong Kong, Schaus had a difficult decision to make.

“I loved my time in the Navy but Mary and I loved living in Hong Kong and I wanted to make this our home. I had a choice - I either stay in the Navy and leave Hong Kong, or I stay in Hong Kong and leave the Navy. So I decided to stay.”

Business lessons Schaus subsequently spent four years working in shipping for Danish conglomerate, Maersk, managing their Asian-based ship repair business. With workshops in China, India and Malaysia, he said it was a lot of responsibility for the then 33-year old, but the commercial lessons he learned enabled him to go on to establish his own successful businesses.

“I was fortunate working for Maersk that have a very structured environment,” Schaus says. “They taught me a tremendous amount and I never could have had any of the small degree of success I’ve experienced on my own if I hadn’t gone through that four years of school with a big corporation.”

“When I was in the military the focus was on operational capability, whereas in the commercial world, the ultimate gauge of success is your financial viability. So I’ve taken a lot of the lessons I learned and incorporated them into my own companies,” he adds.

Schaus now has three companies based around shipping services that he runs from a company headquartered in Hong Kong. OSRO China Limited is an oil spill cleanup and oil waste recycling company; Irwin Marine Services is a Shenzhen-based container ship repair operation; and the newly-launched Irwin Rotational Lining is an environmentally-friendly

factory that recoats and recycles old shipping pipes into new.

OSRO China Limited has grown to become one of the largest oil sludge collectors and ship pollution response companies in mainland China, with approximately 700 ships under management. He also employs more than 40 people across all three organizations, although Schaus acknowledges the role luck has played in helping his business.

“Three months after I started up OSRO China, they had the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and we ended up

29

work but it’s definitely 30 percent luck and things have really lined up for me on this.”

District council drive

moving close to 17 miles of oil [containment] booms right off the bat,” he explains. “That gave us an immediate cash infusion and we were doing real business and had real revenues. Right place at the right time, tremendously fortunate.”

“My ultimate goal had always been to have my own company and when you look at the business environment and the regulatory environment for marine engineering in Hong Kong, this is the place you want to be [at] if you are going to do that,” Schaus adds.

“Business may be 70 percent hard

30

Schaus has now lived in Hong Kong for just under twelve years and as well as three businesses, he has two Hong Kong-born sons, aged six and two. His wife is also employed as a training and recruitment executive with a large law firm and he describes Hong Kong as his family’s lifelong home.

It was this love for his home and his desire to protect its “tremendous quality of life” that he said factored into his decision to run for council and turn his engineering skills to improving the community for residents in the Bays Area.

As well as advocating for a permit system to limit the number of ‘nonfranchised’ buses that operate separately to the public transport and minibuses, Schaus also wants to put his navy skills to use on something he has dubbed the “Southside Sealink”.

“I love our franchised bus system because most of the drivers here are experienced drivers, they know the roads, and they’re set up by the government to serve the residents to begin with,” he says. “It’s the non-franchised buses that sometimes overwhelm our roads at peak times and on holidays.

These are the buses that stop in the middle of the road and let off their passengers and back up the traffic for kilometers.”

“I also want to develop sea links between the new MTR station in Ap Lei Chau and run water taxis out of there directly into Repulse Bay, Blake Pier in Stanley and the beach at Deep Water Bay,” he adds. “What is so tremendous about this ‘Southside Sealink’ idea is that it’s a low impact solution. Let’s get the tour buses off the road and replace them with water taxis that don’t clog up our road.”

Schaus says with his experience running logistics for the Navy, he believes he could operate four,

90-passenger capacity water taxis out of Ap Lei Chau to Blake Pier in Stanley, a jetty near the Pulse in Repulse Bay and to a pier at Deep Water Bay. For such a system to run sixteen hours a day, every day of the year, Schaus believes it would cost in the vicinity of HK$20 million.

“I am hoping the Hong Kong Government may be able to subsidize something like this because the alternative is to spend billions of dollars on infrastructure projects when we may be able to get the same results without turning our community into a construction zone for years,” Schaus points out.

For all of Schaus’ big ideas and experience, an incumbent like Fergus Fung has an immediate advantage when running for office, and Schaus faces even greater challenges.

Although he has lived in Hong Kong for over a decade, he only speaks a little Cantonese. Not having been born here, he is also likely to run into some healthy skepticism about his ability to understand grassroots Hong Kong problems and advocate for change.

When presented with these potential issues, Schaus is well prepared on the language barrier, and even more passionate about where his home is.

“I am by no means a Cantonese speaker, but I am fortunate that the majority of my constituents do speak English and English is an official language in Hong Kong,” he says. “I also understand the need to communicate to everyone and I have people within my support organization to assist me with the Cantonese translation and communication.”

“I’m here for the long term. I live in this community and when I’m hiking the hills in our community, when I’m down at the beach in our community, when my children are going school here and being born here, I’m a part of this community.”

“And if someone were to say that I don’t understand the Chinese people, well I have three successful businesses in mainland China and I don’t think I’d be able to operate those businesses if I don’t understand China.”

biz.hk 10 • 2015

THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN HONG KONG

FAST FACTS COMMUNITY AmCham celebrates over 45 years of promoting business and fostering greater trade ties and community service in Hong Kong

ACTIVITIES Members can access more than 400 programs, seminars, and conferences each year featuring top business and government leaders, industry experts and professional facilitators who address timely and relevant business issues.

MEMBERS Over 1,700 members (40 different nationalities) from over 800 organizations, including multinational firms, small and medium enterprises, entrepreneurs, and non-profit organizations.

COMMITTEES Our members can join and access up to 28 different committees covering industry sectors, professional service sectors, and special segments of the membership.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong 1904 Bank of America Tower 12 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong T: (852) 2530 6900 E: amcham@amcham.org.hk www.amcham.org.hk

BUSINESS NETWORKING

INFORMATION

VISIBILITY AND CORPORATE EXPOSURE

ADVOCACY

ACCESS

TAXATION

Taxing Concerns For Americans Abroad The United States is the only country that requires its citizens living abroad to file income taxes. And as the IRS increases its vigilance on enforcing its rules outside of home, it is important to know the correct procedures on other things that need to be reported like investments and overseas retirement plans

By Tsering Namgyal

G

iven the growing number of Americans who are living abroad, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is becoming increasingly strict about enforcing regulations on US citizens living outside the home jurisdiction.

The US Senate has estimates that the tax evasion of Americans living abroad results in an annual loss of

32

nearly US$150 billion in tax revenues per year for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), according to BNY Mellon Wealth Management.

“When you see a number like that, it is no wonder that the government is cracking down,” says Joan Crain, Senior Director and Wealth Strategist for BNY Mellon Wealth Management, at a recent AmCham talk.

A US person The United States is the only country that actually imposes tax on the “worldwide income” of its subjects regardless of where they live. Unlike the US, most countries – for instance, Canada – base this primarily on residence rather than citizenship.

According to the IRS regulations, an American citizen means a “US person,” which includes American citizens as well as Resident Aliens (RA) with permanent status (green card holders) and people currently classified as US residents by voluntary election, or the number of days per year spent in the States.

“If you are either of those, then you

biz.hk 10 • 2015

are taxed on worldwide income. No matter where you live, you are taxed on your income,” Crain says.

A US person can also treat a Nonresident Alien (NRA) spouse as a US resident for income tax purposes, so the couple can file a joint income tax return. To do so, the NRA spouse needs to obtain a social security number, or Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). “Filing jointly may be useful and may save taxes, depending on the relative income and deductions of the partners,” she points out.

BNY Mellon suggests it is advisable to have an experienced tax specialist calculate the various options, as it could be more efficient for the US person to file separately, or as Head of Household if they are dependent children.

All of this also applies to people known as “Accidental Americans” – people who were born in the United States but never lived there. Unless they have formally renounced the citizenship, they are also subjected to all the rules.

Double taxation Not surprisingly, US persons working outside the US continue to face the possibility of at least some measure of double taxation, much of which is a result of mismatches in tax calendars between the United States and other countries.

The US tax calendar runs from January 1st to December 31st but Hong Kong’s tax calendar, for instance, is from April 1st to March 31st.

“Most of the times trying to avoid double taxation do not work because the calendar year does not match,” she says. “So looking to offset one with another just does not happen.”

One way of avoiding double taxation is through looking at different tax treaties and agreements (the United States has tax treaties with nearly 60 countries). While they are helpful to reduce or eliminate taxes on foreign workers in their countries, they do not necessarily reduce tax liability for US citizens.

biz.hk 10 • 2015

Yet the challenge is not only that these treaties are different from one another, but they are also very complicated and always changing.

“Don’t expect that the US-Denmark treaty is the same as the US-Canadian treaty because they are always being negotiated and renegotiated. So you have to read them very carefully,” Crain says.

For example, while the US has a tax treaty with the People’s Republic of China, this treaty does not cover Hong Kong. There is currently no treaty between the United States and Hong Kong.

Then there are “Foreign Tax Credits” through which you pay much less tax. But here too are a lot of caveats on deductions, credits and exclusions, which means it is important to see if they are actually applicable to the person.

To start with, Americans living outside the States can use “Foreign Earned Income Exclusion” through which they could exclude up to US$108,000 (as of 2015) from their income earned abroad.

Deductions can also be achieved through the “Foreign Housing Exclusion” as well as “Employer Provided Meals Exclusion.” For instance, those living in HK, where housing is expensive, you can get a much higher housing exclusion, Crain recommends.

Overseas retirement plans The most complicated of all are the retirement plans.

“Foreign retirement plans are very often not considered ‘Qualified Retirement Plans’,” she says. Hong Kong’s MPF, however, does qualify as a retirement plan under IRS regulations.

The reason is because foreign pension or retirement plans are often not structured to conform to the complex rules under IRC Section 401.

For instance, they do not include anti-discrimination provisions related to highly compensated employees, or if the trust holding plan assets were not created or organized in the US.

Joan Crain

“Many of the retirement plans are considered like trusts and IRS might say that they are like foreign trusts by the IRS. So many of the tax benefits to the US plans do not work for the foreign plans,” Crain says.

Meanwhile, the assets in those retirement accounts also need to be reported to the IRS by the financial institutions that hold those retirement plans. Many institutions are reluctant to take on new accounts due to very stringent and complicated disclosure requirements under the US regulations.

If it does not qualify, then whatever contribution you make as clients to those plans are considered as taxable compensations and may not be deductible. Even worse, the income from retirement plans such as dividend and income are taxed under a foreign plan.

“However, the bright side is that the distributions that come out of foreign taxes are tax-free,” Crain says.

“IRS says you paid tax going in, you paid tax going out. So you can get the money back, without paying tax.”

A lot of foreign pension plans are often known as “Foreign Guarantor Trusts,” which means they must be reported on IRS Form 3520. But there are exceptions with few countries with which the United States has comprehensive pension treaties (Canada is one example).

BNY Mellon advises that complete reporting and compliance are essential. A US person has to file three

33

forms: 1) Report annual income on their Individual Income Tax Return (Form 1040); 2) Report contributions and distributions on Form 3520; 3) Report plan as asset on Forms 8938 and FBAR.

Staying compliant and punctual IRS regulations on investments made by US citizens living abroad are particularly complicated.

Those investing in mutual funds should be wary of whether it triggers the rules governing Passive Foreign Investment Company (PFIC) or not. They should also study the accounting and reporting requirements for a US person’s accounts and see if their investment advisor has the necessary capacity to properly report on a US person’s accounts.

Clearly, the reporting process is not simple. “The reporting has become very complicated even for

34

[the IRS]. They are still figuring out how to make the reporting simpler.

There are thousands of treaties,” Crain says.

Even after the exclusions, citizens need to pay attention to what they are doing.

“The fact that you have excluded the first US$100,800 does not mean that you can start off with the 15 percent tax bracket,” the executive stresses. In other words, when claiming the “Foreign Earned Income Exclusion”, taxpayers who have excluded income must start off at the (usually higher) marginal rate at which they would have been if they had not excluded any income.

BNY Mellon says it is advisable for US persons to stay compliant with the regulations and pay taxes on time as the IRS is cracking down hard.

The good news is that for those who might have failed to file taxes on time, the IRS has provisions that allow them to make amendments – one of

them is through the “Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program”.

If US persons can convince the IRS that they were not deliberate then they can file the past forms and not pay any penalty.

“Offshore voluntary forms are pretty generous but [can be] pretty harsh on people who have willfully ignored the tax,” Crain says. “It’s really important to advise the clients to do file their past returns and come clean because the enforcement is just going up –and it’s just skyrocketing.”

Tsering Namgyal has been a writer specializing in business and finance for over 10 years. A graduate of the University of Iowa and University of Minnesota, his articles have appeared in Asia Asset Management Review, Fund Strategy, IPE Real Estate, South China Morning Post, amongst others.

biz.hk 10 • 2015

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Protecting Creativity and Innovation With the aim of making Hong Kong into a premier IP trading hub, the government has been working hard to support and grow talent in the city. Deputy Director SK Lee and Assistant Director Michelle Chong of the Intellectual Property Department share the latest on the government’s efforts

By Liana Cafolla

W

ith the number of small and mediumsized enterprises growing consistently in Hong Kong in recent years, along with the growth of creative and cultural-related businesses, many business owners are more aware of the need to protect their intellectual property. At a recent AmCham event, SK Lee, Deputy Director, and Michelle Chong, Assistant Director of the Hong Kong Government’s Intellectual Property Department shared on what the department has been doing to protect intellectual property rights in the city and raise awareness of the importance of the issue.

The department is one of the main agencies tasked with making Hong Kong a premier IP trading hub. According to Lee, the city is on a good footing to become such a hub. Its robust legal system, globalized economy, established services industries and its standing as an international finance center along with a low tax regime and excellent

36

infrastructure already set Hong Kong at the head of the pack. But work remains to be done, and the government is focusing its energies on four strategic areas as identified by the working group on IP trading: supporting IP creation and exploitation, fostering intermediary IP services and manpower, promoting, educating and organizing external collaboration efforts and enhancing Hong Kong’s IP protection.

Government support To encourage more creation, this year the government is injecting additional funds into its existing funding options, grants and subsidies, including an additional HK$5 billion to the Innovation and Technology Fund to support innovation and technology. It is also raising the limit of the Patent Application Grant to HK$250,000 for each first-time patent application, adding HK$200 million to the Film Development Fund, including

subsidies of up to HK$10 million for small budget productions, and adding HK$400 million to the CreateSmart Initiative.

For SMEs, the IP Department has launched a pilot scheme offering free IP consultation service to find out how best to manage their intellectual property. Run in conjunction with the IP Committee of the Law Society of Hong Kong until the end of the year, businesses can apply online to book a free 30-minute meeting. They also aim to raise SMEs’ awareness of IP-related business opportunities and build the capacity of IP service providers.

The department wants to foster intermediary IP services which include legal and non-legal services in the city, such as IP consultancies. It supports IP trading platforms such as TDC’s Asia

biz.hk 10 • 2015

SK Lee

IP Exchange, promotes business tools including IP valuation reporting standards and IP due diligence checklist for IP-related transactions, and manages the “Hong Kong - IP Trading Hub” website where various information on IP trading can be found.

In December, the department will participate at the Business IP Asia Forum where IP professionals and business leaders from around the world gather to discuss the latest developments in the industry and explore business collaborations. The IP Department has signed bilateral IP cooperation MOUs with other jurisdictions, including Korea and Mexico, and hopefully with more to come.

Locally, they run regular promotions and public education efforts. One issue they are currently working on is gauging the manpower situation of the

biz.hk 10 • 2015

IP trading industry in Hong Kong. An earlier survey conducted by the department to assess the city’s activities related to IP trading revealed that talent with IP or technical expertise is needed. Earlier in May, the department launched an IP manager training scheme to encourage businesses to have an in-house manager trained on IP issues. The next training course takes place in December.

Better protection For standard patents, Hong Kong currently utilizes a re-registration system in which the grant of a patent is subject to a previous grant by one of the three designated patent offices.

However, the IP Department believes that to build Hong Kong as an innovative and tech hub, it needs its own Original Grant Patents (OGP) system.

The department plans to legislate to set up an OGP system to run alongside the current re-registration system.

Although Hong Kong is small, other

small economies like Finland have such a system. The OGP system will make reference to overseas patent practices.

The department also intends to build up indigenous capacity to conduct substantive patent examination in the long run. It aims to introduce the patent bill into LegCo before the end of 2015 and have the system up and running in 2017 at the earliest.

For short-term patents, the department proposes to refine the current system by introducing post-grant substantive examination.

With trademarks, consultation on the Madrid Protocol ended in February this year. The Protocol does not replace substantive trademark examination in local countries, but helps to streamline the application process.

Businesses are generally in favor of adopting the Protocol, but some trademark agents are concerned about potential negative effects on their businesses, as overseas applicants would be able to apply for registration in Hong Kong directly using the Protocol.

37

Michelle Chong

The effects on local trademark filings in signatory countries have been mixed, with some seeing an increase in filings and others seeing a reduction.

The government has not yet made a decision regarding whether the Protocol will be adopted, says Lee, although she notes adoption has become an international trend with 95 parties now signed up. ASEAN countries have all committed to signing up to the Protocol by the end of 2015.

The Hong Kong Government is now considering the legal and technical issues and how they would apply to Hong Kong which, as part of China, cannot be a direct signatory to the Protocol. Once a decision is made, it expects to take two to three years before the Protocol can be implemented.

Updating copyrights The government is pushing for early enactment of the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014, possibly in

38

October or November this year, said Assistant Director of Intellectual Property Michelle Chong. Amendments in the bill cover five key areas.

For communication rights, the government is seeking to broaden the scope of exclusive rights. This will allow copyright owners to communicate their work through any electronic means, including the existing rights of making it available through the Internet and broadcast by way of TV and radio.

Currently, around 60 copyright exceptions are granted, including those for education and library purposes. The government proposes expanding the number and scope of exceptions to facilitate distance learning and daily operations of libraries, archives and museums, as well as online service providers (OSP) using data that is temporarily cached or reproduced for technical reasons to allow for efficient transmission.

Proposed changes would also allow media users to listen to sound recordings in a more convenient way, for example on mobile phones or laptops, although they would not be allowed to lend original or converted copies to third parties.

A new ‘fair dealings’ category would be introduced to cover use of copyright material for parodies, satire, caricature or pastiche for commenting on current events or quotations for the purpose of illustration or facilitating discussion. To determine fair dealing, several factors would need to be considered, including purpose and nature of use, nature of the work, amount of the original work used as a proportion of the whole and effect of usage on the potential market or value of the work.

A three-step test would also apply to all exceptions which require that copyright exceptions must be confined to special cases. They must not conflict with normal exploitation of the work and must not unreasonably prejudice the legitimate interests of the copyright owner.

For those who violate copyright laws, the amended legislation would

include coverage of commercial communication and prejudicial communication of works, in addition to the existing clauses covering commercial distribution or prejudicial distribution of infringing copies of copyright works. The bill will also clarify the meaning of “prejudicial extent”, with particular emphasis on considering whether there is a substitution impact.

With civil liability, proposed amendments will add two additional factors for courts to consider when assessing additional damages: whether the infringer acted reasonably after being notified of the infringement, and the likelihood of widespread circulation of infringing copies.

The bill would limit the liability of OSPs if they do not receive any direct financial benefit from the infringement, or if they took reasonable steps to limit or stop infringement once notified and designate an agent to receive notice of complaints. It would also set out a voluntary code of practice for OSPs to adhere to once notified of an infringement.

In their next round of copyright review, the department would take a look at what stakeholders have requested so far, taking into account international developments. Some possible areas include TV boxes (including infringing apps and links or sites that aggregate links), judicial site blocking, extension of copyright terms, user-generated content and contract overrides (which contains similar provisions to those recently introduced in the UK) among others.

AM M Bu

Liana Cafolla is an Irish-Italian journalist based in Hong Kong for the last 15 years. She writes about business, human resources and business trends for publications including the CFA Institute and the South China Morning Post. She has conducted business research for the Economist Intelligence Unit, HSBC, and JP Morgan.

biz.hk 10 • 2015

MD in-

www.amcham.org.hk

AMCHAM Means Business

Members Directory

Over 500 pages in three major sections, including a complete guide to chamber services, corporate sponsors and AmCham Charitable Foundation. This directory lists about 1,700 members from over 700 companies and organizations.

ISBN 978-962-7422-31-0

LC 98-645651 NON-MEMBER PRICE HK$1500 US$195 Shipping costs: Local HK$45 (per copy) US/International US$50 (per copy)

MEMBER PRICE HK$800 US$104

AmCham Member

Name: Title:

Company:

Address:

Tel: Fax:

Email: Website:

copy(ies) of Members Directory

Total: HK$/US$ (postage inclusive)

payable to The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong check#

Bank:

Charge to AMEX (US$) Diners (HK$) Visa (HK$) Master Card (HK$)

Cardholder's Name:

Card#

Expiry Date: Issuing Bank:

Signature: (Not valid unless signed)

The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong 1904 Bank of America Tower, 12 Harcourt Road, Hong Kong.

Tel: (852) 2530 6900 Fax: (852) 3753 1208 Email: hchung@amcham.org.hk

MD in-house Adv 210x285.indd 1

2014/10/23 11:31:29 上午

MARK YOUR CALENDAR Oct “Against the Odds” – Asian leaders share what it took

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to get to the top of a multinational company

Yat-Chung Koh, President Asia, American Express International, Inc. Christine Ip, Managing Director / CEO Hong Kong, United Overseas Bank Limited Elaine Lo, Senior Partner, Chairman of the Asia Board, Mayer Brown JSM Linda Garrett, Managing Director, Garrett Global Consulting (Moderator) According to a study by Diversity & Inclusion in Asian Network (DIAN) set up by Community Business in 2011, Hong Kong Chinese students in universities prefer to work for multinationals over local companies by a factor of 2 to 1. They consider multinationals to provide significantly better salary and benefits, provision of a clear path for advancement, training and development opportunities and opportunities to work abroad.

However, when it comes to job security and opportunities for leadership, Hong Kong Chinese students believe that local Hong Kong companies perform much better, by a factor of 3 to 1. These findings are consistent with other components of DIAN’s research that Hong Kong employees’ preference for employer’s shifts over the course of their career, from multinationals in the early stage, to local companies for more senior positions. It appears that there is a glass ceiling or bamboo curtain at the multinationals.

There are exceptions to this phenomena. Three senior Asian executives that broke the glass ceilings at their multinational companies will be sharing their views and experiences in regard to getting to the top of a multinational in this interactive panel discussion.

Oct What Does HR Need to Know About

27

the Competition Ordinance?

Julia Gorham, Head of Employment, Asia, DLA Piper Anita Lam, Of Counsel, Solicitor Advocate, DLA Piper Human resources is not often thought of as an area of risks in the competition law space. However, when the Competition Ordinance (Cap 619) comes into force in December 2015, certain HR and employment related practices may pose risks for companies operating in Hong Kong.

This seminar aims to assist employers to prepare for implementation of the Competition Ordinance. The seminar will identify areas of risks for employers, provide practical guidance on key elements which employers should know to comply with the new legislation and highlight the key prohibitions under the Ordinance.

Oct Securing Better Access for Hong Kong’s Goods, Services

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and Investments Abroad: Update on Latest Developments

Kenneth Mak, Director-General, Trade and Industry Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China Hong Kong actively seeks to establish with trading partners free trade agreements and investment protection agreements to secure more favorable market conditions for its goods, services and investments.

Kenneth Mak, Director-General of Trade and Industry, will provide an update on the Government’s recent initiatives and efforts ranging from plurilateral initiatives under the WTO, free trade pacts with ASEAN, Macao and the Mainland, to investment agreements with emerging markets.

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

Tel: (852) 2530 6900

Fax: (852) 2810 1289

Venue: Grand Hyatt Hong Kong Drawing Room, M/F 1 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong Time: 12:00 – 2:00pm (Lunch included) Fee(s): Member: HK$630 Non-member: HK$750 Corporate table: HK$8,300

Venue: The American Chamber of Commerce in HK 1904 Bank of America Tower 12 Harcourt Road Central, Hong Kong Time: 8:00 – 9:30am (Light breakfast included) Fee(s): Member: HK$180 Non-member: HK$300

Venue: The American Chamber of Commerce in HK 1904 Bank of America Tower 12 Harcourt Road Central, Hong Kong Time: 8:00 – 9:30am (Light breakfast included) Fee(s): Member: HK$180 Non-member: HK$300

Email: byau@amcham.org.hk

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PROGRAM * Opening and Luncheon Keynote Addresses

* Three Concurrent Breakout Sessions (each session is run twice): WĂŶĞů ϭ͗ ,Ğ ĨŽƌ ^ŚĞ ĂŶĚ tŚĂƚ ǁŝůů ďĞ͍ WĂŶĞů Ϯ͗ ,Žǁ ŵĞĚŝĂ ŝƐ ĂĚĚƌĞƐƐŝŶŐ ŐĞŶĚĞƌ ĚŝǀĞƌƐŝƚLJ WĂŶĞů ϯ͗ dŚĞ &ƵƚƵƌĞ ŽĨ tŽƌŬ Ύ WƌĞƐĞŶƚĂƟŽŶ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ϮϬϭϱ tŽŵĞŶ ŽĨ /ŶŇƵĞŶĐĞ ǁĂƌĚƐ͗ WƌŽĨĞƐƐŝŽŶĂů ŽĨ ƚŚĞ zĞĂƌ͕ zŽƵŶŐ ĐŚŝĞǀĞƌ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ zĞĂƌ ;E tͿ͕ ŶƚƌĞƉƌĞŶĞƵƌ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ zĞĂƌ͕ EŽŶͲƉƌŽĮƚ >ĞĂĚĞƌ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ zĞĂƌ (previously Master in Charity)͕ DĂƐƚĞƌ ŽĨ dŚĞ ƌƚƐ ;E tͿ͕ >ĞĂĚŝŶŐ tŽŵĂŶ ŽŶ ŽĂƌĚƐ͕ ŚĂŵƉŝŽŶ ĨŽƌ ƚŚĞ ĚǀĂŶĐĞŵĞŶƚ ŽĨ tŽŵĞŶ͕ ĂŶĚ ĞƐƚ ŽŵƉĂŶLJ ĨŽƌ tŽŵĞŶ

ZKE ^WKE^KZ^

^ƉĞĂŬĞƌƐ ĨĞĂƚƵƌĞĚ Ăƚ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŶĨĞƌĞŶĐĞ ƚŚŝƐ LJĞĂƌ (more to be announced): Keynote

^ƚĞůůĂ ďƌĂŚĂŵ͕ EĂƟŽŶĂů ŝƌĞĐƚŽƌ͕ ZĞƐŝĚĞŶƟĂů >ĞĂƐŝŶŐ Θ ZĞůŽĐĂƟŽŶ ^ĞƌǀŝĐĞƐ͕ ,<͕ :>> (Moderator) Nicola Fan, ŝƌĞĐƚŽƌ͕ ^ŚĞ KďũĞĐƚƐ Sophie Guerin, W: ŝǀĞƌƐŝƚLJ Θ /ŶĐůƵƐŝŽŶ >ĞĂĚͬ WƌŽŐƌĂŵ DĂŶĂŐĞƌ͕ Ğůů (Moderator) DŝĐŚĞůůĞ >Ăŵ͕ K͕ ^ƉŽŝůƚ ƌ͘ DĂƌŝŽ >ŝŽŶŐ͕ ƐƐŝƐƚĂŶƚ WƌŽĨĞƐƐŽƌ͕ ĞŶƚĞŶŶŝĂů ŽůůĞŐĞ͕ dŚĞ hŶŝǀĞƌƐŝƚLJ ŽĨ ,ŽŶŐ <ŽŶŐ ĂǀŝĚ >LJŶĐŚ͕ DĂŶĂŐŝŶŐ ŝƌĞĐƚŽƌ ĂŶĚ ,ĞĂĚ ŽĨ dĞĐŚŶŽůŽŐLJ Θ KƉĞƌĂƟŽŶƐ͕ ,< Θ DĂŝŶůĂŶĚ ŚŝŶĂ͕ ^ ĂŶŬ ;,ŽŶŐ <ŽŶŐͿ >ŝŵŝƚĞĚ Richard Nicoll, ŚŝĞĨ ^ŚŽƉƉŝŶŐ DĂƌŬĞƟŶŐ KĸĐĞƌ͕ ^ĂĂƚĐŚŝ Θ ^ĂĂƚĐŚŝ

Ronald Lee DĂŶĂŐŝŶŐ ŝƌĞĐƚŽƌ͕ 'ŽůĚŵĂŶ ^ĂĐŚƐ ; ƐŝĂͿ >>

typhoon

consulting K&&/ / > E t^ D /

:ĂŵĞƐ YƵŝŶŶŝůĚ͕ &ŝŶĂŶĐŝĂů ^ĞƌǀŝĐĞƐ ŽŶƐƵůƟŶŐ ʹ ƐŝĂ WĂĐŝĮĐ >ĞĂĚĞƌ͕ Wǁ ŵŵĂ ZĞLJŶŽůĚƐ͕ ŽͲ&ŽƵŶĚĞƌ Θ K͕ ĞϯZĞůŽĂĚĞĚ ^ƵͲDĞŝ dŚŽŵƉƐŽŶ͕ K͕ dŚĞ tŽŵĞŶ͛Ɛ &ŽƵŶĚĂƟŽŶ (Moderator) ĞŶ tĂLJ͕ K͕ DĂĐƋƵĂƌŝĞ 'ƌŽƵƉ ƐŝĂ

^ƉŽŶƐŽƌƐŚŝƉ͗ DĂƌLJ ^ŝŵƉƐŽŶ ŵƐŝŵƉƐŽŶΛĂŵĐŚĂŵ͘ŽƌŐ͘ŚŬ ;ϴϱϮͿ ϮϱϯϬͲϲϵϮϮ

ZĞŐŝƐƚƌĂƟŽŶ Θ ĞƚĂŝůƐ͗ ǁǁǁ͘ĂŵĐŚĂŵ͘ŽƌŐ͘ŚŬͬǁŽŝ η ŵ ŚĂŵ,<tK/

Connect t Collaborate t Catalyse

APAC Innovation Summit 2015 Series

ADVANCED MATERIALS 26 November 2015

Charles K. Kao Auditorium, Science Park www.apacinnosummit.net

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Gerry Wilson CSIRO

Michael Popall

The Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC

Raghu Das

Maria Xenidou

Leo Lau

IDTechEx

Henkel Adhensive Technologies

Chengdu Green Energy & Green Manufacturing Technology R&D Center

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