Chamber backs pact to help graduates
The organisation representing members of the Luxembourg business community in Hong Kong is backing a campaign to provide more work opportunities for university graduates.
The Graduate Trainee Campaign 2009 was launched in January to provide more working opportunities for graduates during the economic crisis.
Officials said their efforts would fall short of solving all the problems caused by the economic downturn, but 'anything is better than nothing', said Alex Fong Chi-wai, chief executive of the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce.
The Belgium-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong is backing efforts by the Hong Kong chamber, which is providing an online platform for its members to post available job openings. Graduates can go online to search for jobs.
The scheme only targets university graduates. Unlike a similar government scheme being launched in August, that will include rules for the participants and some subsides, there are no subsidies or rules for the Hong Kong chamber's campaign.
Mr Fong said chamber of commerce membership spanned the four pillar industries: finance, trade, professional services and tourism.
He said there were new requests daily from graduates and employers since the launch. But statistics on how successful the campaign has been are not yet available.
The Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce has been advertising the campaign to its members and also in Bulletin, the chamber's magazine.
The chamber has also partnered with universities in Hong Kong to promote its scheme to students graduating this year.
