FAREWELL MESSAGE FROM DAVID GRAHAM

Dear members, colleagues and friends,

As many of you know, I will be retiring from the role of Executive Director of the Chamber at the end of May It has been an enormous privilege (as well as great fun) to have the role and I will look back with pride at my time with the Chamber. The last three years have not been the easiest for the Chamber – or indeed for Hong Kong, or the world more generally – but throughout the Chamber has done what it does best and has come through with a strong reputation, an outstanding group of members and a solid financial position. The future looks very bright.

I would like to thank the two Chairs of the Chamber during my period as Executive Director – Peter Burnett OBE, BBS and Dr Anne Kerr – for their wise counsel and vision; the Executive Committee for their unstinting support and commitment; the Committee Chairs and Vice Chairs for their strong leadership; the Executive team for all their hard work and dedication and making it a pleasure to come to work every day; and the Chamber members for their continued and excellent engagement and support.

There have been many highlights over the last three years – the Summits organised in 2021 and 2022 with another planned for 2023, which have now become an annual flagship event for the Chamber; the Symposiums on Healthcare, Infrastructure and Social Sustainability; our Policy Address and Budget submissions, as well as our detailed submissions on the Greater Bay Area and many other topics important to our members and Hong Kong; the introduction of our Community Outreach program, joining with HandsOn Hong Kong; the establishment of a nascent Creative Industries Committee as Hong Kong looks to build out its first class offering as an international hub for arts, sport and culture; and the award in 2021 of International Chamber of the Year by the British Chambers organisation, to name but a few. Of course, the COVID restrictions have meant that there have been periods when it was not possible to hold as many social and networking events as we would have liked – for instance, we have not held our highly enjoyable annual Ball during my time as Executive Director – but we were able to continue to host our Christmas Cocktails, our quiz night, our event around the Rugby Sevens (twice in six months) and recently our networking drinks Expect more social events in the future.

We have continued to build on our relationships with key stakeholders – in Hong Kong, on the Mainland and in the UK – so as to be able better to represent the interests of our members We have managed to continue our annual “doorknock” to the UK where we meet with UK Government and other officials as part of our mission to provide on the ground feedback on the business opportunities in Hong Kong; and increasingly have interacted with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the China Liaison Office to express the views of our members on the business environment on Hong Kong. In all these interactions, we have stayed away from politics or expressing views on political matters – our focus has been solely on the business agenda of our members

I am excited about the Chamber’s future, as I am about the future of Hong Kong I wish my successor, Paul McComb, every success in the role I strongly believe that the Chamber will continue to be an influential voice for business in Hong Kong and I look forward to keeping in touch with many of you in the coming years. The Chamber has made me many friends – and I hope those friendships will be long lasting.

With all my very best wishes

David Graham

Executive Director, The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong