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One of the most respected global professional organisations, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors ("RICS"), announced the launch of its Hong Kong Chapter today (July 13). The RICS comprises property professionals involved in land, valuation, real estate, construction and environmental issues.

The Chairman of RICS Hong Kong Chapter, Mr David Tse, said, "We are very pleased to celebrate the establishment of the local chapter today, following the set up of our regional office here last year. Hong Kong is the largest region in terms of number of RICS Members outside of the headquarters in London. At present, we have over 4,000 RICS members in Hong Kong."

"Through the newly-established Hong Kong Chapter, the RICS will be able to better serve our members here by integrating local expertise with international perspectives. We will facilitate and encourage closer relationships with other professional organisations and academic bodies in Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors. This will increase the recognition of chartered surveyors and to help them achieve internationally recognised professional standards," added Mr Tse.

The RICS also celebrated the first anniversary of its Asia Pacific regional office. The RICS Asia Pacific Regional Board was established last year to serve a network of over 6,000 RICS members across the region in markets like Mainland China, Hong Kong, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, the Maldives, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Mr Tse said, "For RICS, Hong Kong is certainly a very important strategic location locally and regionally. We chose Hong Kong to set up our regional office last year for many reasons - its location as the central of the Asia-Pacific region, its leading position as the financial and trading centre in the region, intellectual property protection and the simple and low tax regime. We aim to capitalise on opportunities in new markets, especially Mainland China. Given Hong Kong's pivotal role as the springboard into the Mainland, it is natural for us to set up our regional function here."

The immediate past president of RICS, Mr Nicholas Brooke, who is also one of the Investment Promotion Ambassadors for Invest Hong Kong, joined Mr Tse in celebrating the success of RICS Asia-Pacific regional office in Hong Kong.

Acting Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Mr Simon Galpin, congratulated RICS on the launch of its Hong Kong Chapter and the anniversary of the regional office.

He said, "The presence of over 4,000 RICS members provides powerful and compelling evidence of Hong Kong as the leading international business service centre in Asia. With the high flow of investments between Hong Kong and the rest of the region, professional services will play a more important role than ever. We wish RICS every success in their future development in Hong Kong and elsewhere in the region."

With 134 years of representing property professionalism, RICS has a total membership of more than 110,000 in 120 countries worldwide. In addition to its RICS Asia-Pacific regional office in Hong Kong, RICS has three other regional offices - RICS Americas in New York, RICS Europe in Brussels and RICS Oceania in Sydney.

Invest Hong Kong is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government department charged with encouraging and facilitating foreign investment into the city by providing all the support needed to establish a business presence here.

Ends/Tuesday, July 13, 2004

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