business in hong kong

Wal-Mart to establish regional headquarters

Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK Mike Rowse (left), welcomes Wal-Mart's setting up of Asia regional headquarters in Hong Kong. With him is Wal-Mart Asia's President and Chief Executive Officer Vicente Trius.

On September 3, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. announced the establishment of its new Asia regional headquarters in Hong Kong.

President and Chief Executive Officer for Wal-Mart Asia Vicente Trius said the Hong Kong regional headquarters will have strategic responsibilities for managing the company's current operations in Asia and for business development.

“Just as the Wal-Mart America’s regional office in Miami oversees the company’s operations in Canada, Central and South America,” Mr. Trius said, “The new Wal-Mart office in Hong Kong will oversee the company’s operations in mainland China, India and Japan, as well as identify new business opportunities for the company throughout Asia.”

Commenting on the reasons why Wal-Mart chose Hong Kong, Mr. Trius said, “Hong Kong is the perfect location from which to operate a regional headquarters for Asia, as it is centrally located and offers ready access to markets across the region. It is a great staging area from which to manage our current portfolio and potential future expansion.”

Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK Mike Rowse warmly welcomed Wal-Mart’s choice of Hong Kong over other cities in Asia. “The establishment of your regional headquarters here represents a powerful vote of confidence in Hong Kong as the preferred location for leading global companies to manage their business in mainland China and elsewhere in Asia,” he said.

Over the years, Hong Kong has been the most popular location in Asia for companies from around the world for regional hubs. Some 3,900 overseas and Mainland companies operate regional headquarters or regional offices in Hong Kong.

Wal-Mart Asia’s Vice President, People, Brian Walker cited the advantages that Hong Kong offers his company.

“With an abundant pool of talent and professionals in the city, Wal-Mart is able to recruit the right local staff for our regional headquarters. In addition, Hong Kong is equipped with excellent transportation, communications and technology infrastructure, which are essential tools for our regional management team,” said Mr. Walker.

Mr. Rowse said he is confident that the new Hong Kong hub will play a vital role in Wal-Mart's business development in the region. “And, as you expand your business, we will be ready to help by continuing to provide you with what you need when you need it. I wish Wal-Mart every success in Hong Kong, regionally and globally, in the years to come,” he added.

InvestHK is the award-winning department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government responsible for attracting and facilitating inward investment to the city, by providing free services and support to help overseas and Mainland companies establish or expand their business presence in Hong Kong.

IT hosting provider sets up Asia headquarters

On September 8, Rackspace Hosting, the world’s leading provider of IT hosting, announced the launch of its Asia headquarters and data center in Hong Kong to meet global customer demand.

The data center in Hong Kong is in addition to Rackspace’s four data centers operating in the U.S. and three in the U.K. Rackspace’s expansion into Asia marks the company’s continued investment in customer service and demonstrates its confidence in the business opportunities that Asia represents. Rackspace offers a full range of services including managed hosting, cloud hosting, platform hosting, virtualization, security and e-mail services, storage and backup, and other professional services.

Vice President and Managing Director for Asia Pacific, Rackspace Hosting Asia Jim Fagan said Asia represents a significant growth opportunity for Rackspace, especially in the financial services area. “Our expansion into Asia is an important strategy in helping us reach our goal of being one of the world’s greatest service companies. We also believe Hong Kong’s world-class IT infrastructure and rich talent pool will help us succeed in bringing another perspective to our service commitment,” he added.

Acting Director-General of Investment Promotion at InvestHK Simon Galpin welcomed the launch of Rackspace’s Asia headquarters and data center in Hong Kong.

“We are naturally very pleased that Rackspace has decided to invest in Hong Kong,” said Mr. Galpin. “As a hosting provider, Rackspace provides round-the-clock and reliable services to its clients. Hong Kong is an excellent choice for a data center. Our stable political environment, sound legal systems that protect data and intellectual property rights, as well as world-class telecommunications, information technology and electric power infrastructure ensure the smooth running of the center.  And Hong Kong’s position as the gateway to mainland China, soon to be the world’s third largest economy, provides a springboard for overseas companies to go into mainland China. We look forward to the successful development of the data center and Rackspace’s business in Hong Kong and elsewhere in this region.”

As the world’s leader and specialist in hosting, Rackspace Hosting is changing the way businesses worldwide buy IT. Rackspace delivers computing-as-a-service, integrating the industry’s best technologies into a flexible service offering, making computing more reliable and affordable.

Marginal passenger growth in August

The combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for August 2008 showed only a marginal growth in the number of passengers carried compared to a double-digit capacity climb. For cargo, both tonnage carried and capacity fell compared to the same month in 2007.

In August, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,129,749 passengers — a 0.5% increase year-on-year. The month’s load factor was down 4.7 percentage points to 78.4%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASKs), was up 14.0% compared to the previous year. The number of passengers carried year-to-date rose 11.3% compared to a capacity increase of 14.5%.

The two airlines carried 140,589 metric tons of cargo and mail in August, a 3.1% drop year-on-year. Capacity for the month, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometers, fell 5.4% while the cargo and mail load factor rose by 0.6 percentage points to 65.9%. The amount of freight carried year-to-date grew by 5.3% compared to a capacity climb of 4.6%.
           
Ceremony marks terminal groundbreaking

On September 4, Cathay Pacific Airways marked the groundbreaking of the Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal with a simple ceremony at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA).

Guest of honor at the groundbreaking ceremony, officiated by the airline’s Chief Executive Tony Tyler and Chief Operating Officer John Slosar, was Hong Kong Secretary for Transport and Housing Eva Cheng. Also officiating at the ceremony were Chairman of Airport Authority Hong Kong Marvin Cheung, Deputy Director-General of Civil Aviation Y.K. Leung, and Chief Executive of Airport Authority Hong Kong Stanley Hui.

In March, the Airport Authority awarded the airline’s wholly owned subsidiary, Cathay Pacific Services Ltd. (CPSL), a franchise to invest in, design, construct and operate the new air cargo terminal at HKIA under a 20-year agreement. Cathay Pacific will invest a total development cost of approximately US$615.38 million into the facility, which will occupy a site of around 10 hectares in the airport’s cargo area.

The new terminal will be completed by the second half of 2011 with a designed annual air cargo throughput capacity of 2.6 million metric tons. The terminal will be a common-use facility open to all airline customers. The additional air cargo handling capacity and facilities provided by the new terminal will help to further reinforce HKIA’s position as the world’s premier international airfreight hub.