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The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), a 130,000-strong, member society for professional engineers, has selected Hong Kong as the springboard for its exciting growth plans in the Asia Pacific region.
The opening of a regional headquarters (RHQ) in Jardine House, Central, provides a base from which to launch its services, such as the world-class information service - the Inspec database - into this increasingly important part of the engineering community.
Professor Mike Sterling, the IEE President, was in Hong Kong for the official opening of the office today (September 17). The Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Mr Mike Rowse, was invited as the officiating guest.
Professor Sterling said, "In many developed countries the popularity of engineering as a career is under pressure and employers in some fields are reporting serious difficulties in recruiting appropriately qualified staff. In the Asia Pacific region, however, expansion is still strong and growing ever stronger.
"It is important, therefore, for the IEE to strengthen its presence in the Asia Pacific area. For instance, in China, new entrants for engineering courses exceed the total of all new undergraduates in the UK. There are around 220 million students enrolled in the overall education system, and approximately 832,000 have entered universities to read engineering.
"All these figures are indicators that the IEE must commit to a regional headquarters at the epicentre of this growth. We have much to gain from interacting with these new engineers and, in turn, believe that we have services to offer them that will assist in their professional development. Indeed, we feel that our publishing and information services such as Inspec database are particularly relevant."
Professor Sterling sees building alliances with other institutions and fostering links with the higher education institutes as key in ensuring the continued growth of the engineering profession.
Mr Rowse welcomed IEE's opening of its first membership office (outside the UK) and RHQ in Hong Kong. He said: "Hong Kong remains the excellent springboard for international companies and organisations to access the Mainland of China and the rest of East Asia."
Mr Rowse continued, "Hong Kong's engineering professionals will clearly benefit from the services provided by the IEE, which will help maintain and enhance the level of Hong Kong's business and professional services at a global standard.
"IEE's investment reinforces Invest Hong Kong's objective of attracting professional bodies as well as companies to strengthen Hong Kong as an advanced regional services hub. We sincerely wish the IEE every success in Hong Kong and the region."
Mr Thomas Yi who will head up the office for the IEE said, "Hong Kong was chosen as RHQ mainly because of its 'three-hour-hub' location. Since the RHQ will be serving members and education institutions from Kuala Lumpur and Singapore to Tokyo, Beijing and Shanghai it will be possible to reach any of these cities by a three hour flight."
Mr Yi added, "The cost of doing business is very reasonable and the support we gained from Invest Hong Kong has been most appreciated. Also, the IEE local branch in Hong Kong has a very active membership of 6,000. This new facility will be able to accommodate seminars, conferences and social functions organised by the local branch."
The IEE, the largest Europe-based engineering society, provides a range of services to enable the professional development of engineers across a broad spectrum of disciplines. It operates as a publisher and provider of information services and the regional headquarter will provide a local base for the Inspec database. This world-class information service from the provides access to the world's scientific and technical literature in physics, electrical engineering, electronics, communications, control engineering, computers and computing, and information technology.
Most of the universities in the world have access to the IEE's Inspec database in one form or another. Over 100 universities in the region are site licence users of the Inspec service, which is looking to expand its customer base throughout the Asia Pacific region.
Full information on the IEE and Invest Hong Kong can be found at www.iee.org and www.InvestHK.gov.hk respectively.
End/Wednesday, September 17, 2003
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