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Chief Executive CY Leung
In celebrating the 50th anniversary of TDC (Trade Development Council), we pay tribute to the Council’s seminal work in championing, and advancing, the entrepreneurial spirit that has long powered Hong Kong.
TDC made a big impact from the get-go 50 years ago. Its first office, at Ocean Terminal, was set up in April 1966, some six months before its official establishment. Straight away the Council was banging the drum - and plenty of gongs - on behalf of Hong Kong SMEs and their highly valued products.
Within two months, TDC was in Barcelona for its first overseas debut. At a major trade fair there, it captured the most business interest and activities that any exhibitor could hope for. It helped that just outside the fair, so I am told, a Hong Kong auxiliary policewoman, who just happened to be an TDC employee, directed operations from a Hong Kong traffic pagoda. Now that's promotion you can't miss.
That autumn, razzle-dazzle Hong Kong promotions were attracting big crowds in London, in Stuttgart, and in nine US cities. As part of Macy’s hugely popular Far East Festival, where some 200,000 people poured in a day, the Hong Kong promotion thrilled visitors with its 40-foot-long dragon boat, mini-fishing junks from Hong Kong, brass gongs, pagodas, traditional Chinese costumes and, of course, mountains of made-in-Hong Kong products.
That, as they say, was then - the heyday of Hong Kong-based manufacturing.
TDC has, since then, helped steer Hong Kong’s transformation from a low-cost production centre to a global financial, trading and logistics hub. In doing so, it has supported Hong Kong businesses to explore new markets, to tap new opportunities all over the world, including the Mainland of China.
In 1980, TDC led the first Hong Kong business mission to the Mainland - in Guangzhou. That, of course, helped open the way for Hong Kong companies to set up business in the Pearl River Delta, precipitating a boom in Hong Kong production there.
Together with China’s reform and opening up, the relocation of manufacturing industries to the Mainland also set in motion Hong Kong’s rapid rise as a services-based economy.
Along the way, TDC, working with the Government and Hong Kong SMEs, has overcome countless challenges, from the Asian financial crisis, to SARS and the financial tsunami eight years ago.
Today, TDC organises a wealth of product and service shows - here in Hong Kong and around the world. And it does so on a big, top scale, bolstering our position as a global hub for trade fairs and conventions. At the same time, the best of our city, from intellectual property to fashion to finance and everything else, are showcased.
And as we look to a future propelled by innovation, TDC is there, spotlighting our technology and creative industries, and offering a multitude of programmes designed to help our SMEs embrace the promise of technology.
TDC is there, as well, promoting Hong Kong as the commercial hub for the country’s Belt & Road Initiative. That inspired strategy, built upon infrastructure connectivity, will drive the global economy in the 21st century. Hong Kong businesses, with critical help from the Council, can play a game-changing role in the Belt & Road.
As much as TDC has achieved for Hong Kong over the past 50 years, I am confident it will continue to power ahead with the rest of Hong Kong in the next 50 years and more.
Chief Executive CY Leung gave these remarks at the Trade Development Council 50th anniversary cocktail reception on December 1.
