Ventures Dialogue

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When ranked by political stability, government effectiveness, legal and regulatory , macroeconomic risk, and six other factors, Canada and Hong Kong both tied for 11the place for operational risk out of 150 markets in a recent model run by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).  Marked an a scale of 0-100, with ten judging criteria, Switzerland was deemed the least risky, taking the first spot, followed by Denmark, Singapore, and Sweden all tied for second place.  Myanmar, Guinea, and Iraq were ranked at the bottom.  The EIU is a good source of country, industry and management analysis.

Check out the EUI’s Operational risk ratings here.

Clear skies at the Beijing airport lets you see how impossibly far the airport structure curves off into the distance

Carla Kearns has been posting a series of observations made during her visit to both Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Forum. She continued her journey on to Beijing.

After arriving in Beijing on Saturday, I joined up with the Canada China Business Council (CCBC)’s high profile delegation to China on Monday at the gala launch.

Before I report on the events of that day, several minor items impressed me upon arrival at Beijing’s newly opened airport.  First, I was shocked by the clarity of the air.  I knew there were mountains surrounding Beijing, but I had never actually seen them.  Second, I was astounded by the vast scale of the airport; which was so immense that it was like gazing at an optical illusion.  In Hong Kong, one of the speakers noted that the world’s greatest cities achieved premier status, not because of their economic or political power, but because they are important transportation hubs.  The Chinese government seems to have spared no expense to position itself as one of the greatest modern cities. Later I learned that it is in fact the world’s largest roofed structure.

Back to business. After an adventurous Sunday at the Simatai section of the Great Wall (and an equally adventurous time finding a cabbie to take us there), I arrived at the Kerry Hotel first thing Monday morning to join the CCBC events of that day.  This day marked the gathering of some of the highest profile Canadian delegates to China in years, including: four provincial Premier delegations, an official delegation from Quebec, the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters mission and many of Canada’s top industry leaders. All had convened in Beijing for this important trip.

In stark contrast to Hong Kong, the urgent concern for those in attendance was NOT the global economic crisis.  Although China will be affected along with the rest of the globe, the impact on GDP is expected to result in 8% growth, rather than the recent 10% it has seen for more than a decade.  Not too shabby. Continue reading ‘Beijing diary — opportunity everywhere’

Carla Kearns has been posting a series of observations made during her visit to both Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Forum.  This is her final diary entry.

zaijian Hong Kong, ni hao Beijing

October 31 was the second and last day of the Hong Kong Forum.  During these 2 days we heard from successful Canadian and other business leaders and entrepreneurs in the area about why they chose to either do business in Hong Kong or use Hong Kong to do business with China.

Hong Kong has a business structure that is familiar to North Americans, in its legal, financial and governance aspects.  Although these are critical factors that can shorten a business’ learning curve in Asia, the fact remains that developing relationships here is still very important.  At the Forum I met a potentially valuable contact from Hong Kong.  We sat and talked for 30 minutes about where his family is from and some of the business and personal experiences he has had.  As I could see my partner becoming visibly impatient, I reminded him that we were gaining invaluable information about who this man is, what his relationships are and the capacity of business that he has done in the past.

When you go to Asia on a one week business trip it is easy to feel a great sense of time pressure to get business completed.  However, trying to shortcut the process of getting to know who you are doing business with often results in doing business with someone that you wish you weren’t.  These trips and missions to China should always be regarded as a beginning point, not the end result.

In the end I developed several solid leads for my corporate training services and am exploring opportunities for partnership to recraft our training programs to Chinese students and executives who are coming to Canada.  Now it is up to me to ensure than I maintain the momentum.

A few random items of interest: Continue reading ‘Hong Kong diary – final thoughts’

Canadians feature prominently at the Hong Kong Forum, according to the National Post.  The Forum is the same event which took our own contributor Carla Kearns to Hong Kong to be reacquainted with the city.  Here’s an excerpt from Duncan Mavin’s story:

Canadians outnumbered delegates from any other country by a huge margin at the ninth annual Hong Kong Forum, a meeting of international businesses with links to the self-styled gateway to China.

More than a third of the 443 delegates packed into the convention centre at the harbourside Grand Hyatt on Thursday were from Canadian businesses, universities and trade organizations, a reflection, many seemed to agree, not only of Canada’s large Hong Kong-born population, but also of the importance of Hong Kong and China to Canada’s future economic success.

“How you do in China is going to impact how well you do overall in the medium and long term,” said Zane Moi, Asia-Pacific director of Waterloo, Ont.’s Research in Motion Ltd.

Read the full story.

Allan Zeman is German-born but grew up in Montreal and now, in Hong Kong, he has been dubbed “Mr. Lan Kwai Fong.”  He has, in short, revolutionized Lan Kwai Fong, a narrow L-shaped street in Hong Kong’s Central District, changing it from an area known for flower stalls, small textile factories and a garbage collection center into a cultural hot spot with restaurants, bars and late night parties.  When visiting you might want to head to this area after a hard day at work as it is one of the most famous locations in Hong Kong, and most fun.

Zeman has had an interesting journey. He moved to Hong Kong in 1975 when he was 20 years old and once settled he felt it needed a western style restaurant, so he opened “California” in 1983 in Lan Kwai Fong which became his claim to fame.  One year later, following this success, Zeman bought the whole block and began a new career as an entertainer and property developer eventually founding the Lan Kwai Group and developing this location into one of Hong Kong’s most popular entertainment destinations for expatriates as well as tourists.  Friday and Saturday nights are often jammed with people, leading to vehicle traffic being suspended at certain times, giving the streets over to pedestrians. As a measure of its success to appeal to locals as well as foreigners, 75 percent of Lan Kwai Fong visitors were westerners before 1997 (the rest were locals).  Now, it is more of a 50/50 split, even though it is one of the few places where English is the predominate language.  As Zeman puts it, “People who migrated to the overseas and then came back might still want to continue their overseas lifestyle, and Lan Kwai Fong has become the best place for them.”

Later, in 2004, Zeman became chairman of Ocean Park, an amusement park which is now out performing and thriving against the struggling Hong Kong Disneyland.  Upon acquiring this new role, Zeman recognized he could not and should not redesign the park to resemble Disneyland and instead chose to use the park’s seaside setting as the main theme focusing on the environment (the ocean and animals), education and conservation.  Zeman notes that he learned from his experience with Lan Kwai Fong that the people are ready and eager for something new.  In 2006, Forbes Travel listed Ocean Park as one of the top 50 most visited tourist attractions in the world.  With almost 4.4 million visitors to the Park in 2006, and $539 million HKD, he turned it into a world class theme park.  This success earned him the name as Hong Kong’s Mouse Killer, taken from a 2007 Forbes magazine article.  The renovation is expected to be completely redone in 2012.

Continue reading ‘Hong Kong success story: Allen Zeman, AKA “Mr. Lan Kwai Fong”, AKA Hong Kong’s “Mouse Killer”’

New and emerging markets offer unprecedented opportunities for Ontario; an idea that was overwhelmingly endorsed at the Ontario Economic Summit in Niagara-on-the-Lake last month.  In the third and final part of this series, we take note of the advice of three very successful Ontario business leaders.

Panelists Gary Comerford, Vice President of International Sunlife Financial; Mike Dejak, President and CEO Eco-Tec Inc. and John Beck, chairman and CEO of Aecon Group were led in a discussion about global trade by Andrea Mandel Campbell, author of, “Why Mexican’s don’t drink Molson.”

Although there is no crystal ball projecting a clear future for Canada’s economy, there was a consensus among the panelists that amid the uncertainty resulting from the US economic crisis, Canadian businesses should focus on the opportunities on our horizon as Canada can no longer rely solely on the partnerships forged with its closest neighbour. The panelists agreed that it’s time for Canadian businesses to branch out to international markets instead of staying close to home.  Comerford added that Canada should be thankful for strong regulations in the banking and insurance sectors that are lacking in America.

Eco-Tec Inc. provides a prime example of Canadian success overseas.  Currently, Eco-Tec is at full production stemming from the company’s external relations and, remarkably, they do not have a single order from a Canadian customer. Mike Dejak stresses that Canadians need to be opportunistic in order to figure out which countries will continue to invest.  International markets are ideally suited for small and medium businesses, Dejak explained, as they can adapt quickly to new opportunities.  It’s much more difficult to turn around a large multinational firm.

John Beck of Aecon Group shared a similar belief that international experience has benefits for Canadian business. Each time his company ventures overseas his team applies its Canadian experience to international projects. They also use what they have learned internationally to help improve projects here at home.  An example of this was their Highway 407-toll road construction experience that assisted an Aecon project in Israel, and knowledge gained there will be applied to the next similar project in Canada.  Beck explains that the global market is a two-way street: Canada has a lot to offer while at the same time can learn from other countries.

Sunlife Financial’s Gary Comerford helps head a company that has been on the international scene for decades.  Comerford is fully aware that going international does not happen overnight: he has made over 75 roundtrips to India over the course of 10 years in the name of forging new relationships.   He says the Canadian government and businesses should realize that “Canada needs to do business with India more than India needs to business with Canada.”

Comerford also emphasized the importance of government support. The Canadian government can provide introductions to agents, identify potential clients and refer Canadian companies to people in other countries.   In order for businesses to make these connections internationally, high-level political leaders need to travel overseas with their Canadian companies.  Comerford also acknowledges that although business between Canada and the US is wonderful and convenient, at this particular time it’s risky. Now more than ever, Canada needs to strengthen and develop international relationships.

“We want people to say this is a great place to work and do business,” says Comerford.

That’s an attitude shared by Ontario’s Minister of International Trade and Investment, as explained in our first story, as well as the Lead Economist for the World Bank, which you’ll find in post two.