Hong Kong-listed mainland Chinese companies dominate directors' awards
Institute chairman says they are more mindful of their corporate image
Mainland companies swept the board yesterday in the Hong Kong Institute of Directors annual awards for best directors of listed firms in the city.
"Mainland companies have been sweeping the categories for listed companies for the past several years, and I'm not surprised [with this year's result]," said Kelvin Wong, the chairman of the institute, which also gives awards to private companies and non-profit organisations.
"The mainland companies which are serious about achieving long-term growth are very mindful of their corporate image, but Hong Kong companies that are already established don't seem to worry as much."
In order to determine the winners of the 13th annual Director of the Year Awards, the judges trawled through company reports and completed hours of interviews with staff members of each company.
This year, the institute paid special attention to boards and directors committed to promoting environmental, social and government policies that "create added value to society as a whole".
"The companies which are brave enough to participate and thus risk the possibility of our independently finding some problems tend to be quite confident in the quality of their corporate governance," Wong said, adding that there had not been a significant decrease in the number of Hong Kong companies participating.