Chamber's new chief confirmed
Career civil servant Alex Fong Chi-wai has been confirmed as the new chief executive of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and will take up his post in late August.
Mr Fong was previously the principal Hong Kong economic and trade representative in Tokyo. He succeeds Eden Woon Yi-teng, who will depart at the end of this month after nine years with the chamber. His appointment was first reported by the South China Morning Post two weeks ago.
'I look forward to working with members, staff and leadership of the chamber to develop initiatives and programmes that will advance the economic and business interests of Hong Kong,' Mr Fong said.
Mr Fong, 49, left the government after 27 years of service. The administration had been trying to identify a new posting for him before his departure, according to government sources.
Dr Woon, who is joining the Greater China team of US coffee giant Starbucks, believes his successor will bring in different perspectives.
'There are challenges for the chamber, things that I wish I could have done better and he will have ways to deal with those. There may be certain things that I do better than he does but I am sure there are things that he does better than me. I am also very close to my staff and I am confident that he will be good for the staff,' Dr Woon said. 'I will be very surprised if he does not do well.'
The chamber's chairman, David Eldon, said Mr Fong brought with him a wealth of economic and business experience.
The chamber will be managed in the interim by senior directors Chan Wai-kwan and Cheung Yiu-shing as well as chief economist David O'Rear.
