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Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, at the 17th Triennial International Conference of the Asian Association of Management Organisation this morning (September 14):
David (Li), distinguished guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning. It is my pleasure to join you this morning for the opening.
First of all, I'd like to extend a very warm welcome to Hong Kong to our visitors from all parts of the world.
Also, my warmest congratulations to the Hong Kong Management Association on hosting this very important conference.
The international business environment indeed has considerably changed since Hong Kong last staged the AAMO conference in 1989. Just a quirky little bit of history: 1989 was also the year two university students in the US started a small company and launched an Internet engine called Google. Of course the rest is history.
Today, there are more mobile phone applications than most computers had two decades ago. We are connected around the clock by the Internet, video conferencing, international finance and by the slick global supply chains that we are all so familiar with.
And not only do today's executives require all the traditional people-management skills, they also have to be tech-savvy. And I wouldn't want to guess how many of you are slaves to your BlackBerries.
New technology has also levelled the playing field for businesses, especially small and medium enterprises. With minimal capital, firms can now take full advantage of the latest communication techniques in order to source goods and raw materials and serve customers from around the world.
Successful companies, large, medium or small, are those which have adapted, and continue to adapt to the rapid transformations in technology.
At the same time, the macroeconomic environment is also in a state of flux. Asia's relative resilience to the global financial crisis has shifted the focus away from traditional markets in the West to emerging markets in the East.
The result is greater competition in this part of the world, and innovation is the only way to stay ahead of the game.
In our so-called communication age, it is appropriate that the key to innovation is communication.
Better communication encourages learning between executives and employees by fostering exchange of ideas.
Employees are experts in their respective domains. They are often first to recognise the potential of a new idea, or foresee a problem ahead of time.
Even with all the very latest technology, people still remain the greatest asset of any company. This brings me back to the Hong Kong Management Association.
For half a century, the HKMA has been fostering a culture of life-long learning among our employees.
This has helped our relatively small but extremely agile workforce adapt to the changing business environment, upgrade their skills and drive innovation.
So let me take this opportunity to congratulate the HKMA on its 50th anniversary, and to wish you every success and a very innovative conference.
I also hope all of you visiting Hong Kong, whether it's the first time or the nth time, please find time to explore our city. We get blue sky and white clouds once every so often. It is a little bit warm and humid outside, but it is great weather nevertheless. Have a great stay in Hong Kong, what we call Asia's world city.
Thank you.
Ends/Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Issued at HKT 12:52
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