day 1

we were all gathered at the airport at 530am
but due to miscommunication
the tour guide (lao yao) only arrived at 630am for check in.
my lugguge was 15.4kg heavy!
after all the goodbyes
it was time to head to the plane.



[[group photo taken before entering the gates]]

im pretty excited about it!
another 3hrs and i would be in Hong Kong.
slept thru the whole plane flight!

finally we arrived in Hong Kong.
picked up our lugguge and we are off to visit our first company.
Hong Kong Trade Development Centre

The TDC Business InfoCentre, located in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre extension, marks TDC's commitment to providing quality business information services to Hong Kong companies, especially to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The Business InfoCentre, occupying a total floor space of 1,500 sq.m, is the most resourceful business information centre in Hong Kong. Its predecessor, the TDC Business Library had a history of over 30 years. Used by over 15,000 visitors per month, the Business InfoCentre is rich in content, modern and hi-tech in facilities.

The TDC business InfoCentre houses the largest collection of market and trade information in Hong Kong. It contains more than 40,000 titles of books, 8,000 periodicals, 500 statistical tables, 160,000 newspaper clippings, 60+ electronic databases, numerous videos, and more.

Information that can be found in the Business InfoCentre:
- Business contacts
- Company & industry reports
- Trade & investment opportunities
- World economic environment
- Overseas market situations
- Export & import trends
- Trade & investment regulations
- Tariffs and taxes
- Trade fairs and exhibitions
- Satistics

TDC also allows the public to use their internet services and word processing workstations for free, only charging them for the printing services if required. The public is also able to find yearbooks regarding trades in China. China Business advisory services are also available if the public has any questions regarding the entry into China, export regulations, law procedures, etc. These services pricided are also free of charge.

In TDC, they have a gallery which showcases products and designs of manufacturers and producers so that the public is able to view their latest inventions and products available in the market.

It also has been realized that there is no branch set up in Singapore whereas neighbouring countries such as Kuala Lumpur has one.

*Hong Kong fast facts!*
1. Free trade and free market, consistently voted world's freest economy
2. Low tax rate - 16% salaries tax; 17.5% profits tax
3. Highly educated workforce
4. Per capita GDP of about US$25,000
5. Unrivalled experience of doing business in China
6. Third largest stock market in Asia
7. Stable currency linked to US$
8. China's largest external investor
9. World's busiest container and international air cargo ports
10. Convenient, compact and cosmopolitan city

After visiting the company, it was off to dinner before checking in.
seriously! i've nvr experience having 8-course meals for lunch and dinner everyday.
then it was back to hotel and.. free and easy! =)
thou there was curfew!

thats my first day in hk!

Pre-trip reflections

I am super excited that I’ve got selected to go for this IBSM trip. Before the trip, there was a 5 day workshop planned out for us. On the first day, Mr Wong briefed us about the trip and what our objectives of this trip. A short lecture regarding International Business was conducted. Every one was still very “alien” to each other. They were just hanging out in their own groups. The second day was more or less the same. Lectures conducted and allocation of project groups. Chinese lessons were conducted on one of the days. OMG! CHINESE! All the alien words are appearing again. We had to translate 5 sheets of related business terms in Chinese and none of us are allowed to communicate in Chinese for the whole of the day. Torturous!

Our guest speaker, Mr Law Sit came to tell us more about Business in China. Mr Sit is an experienced businessman in China. He talked about having good “guanxi” with the local people would bring an advantage to setting up business there. He also mentioned some opportunities and threat that are coming up in the future.

We had to prepare presentations slides regarding our topic and one of the regions that we were visiting so as to give us a better understanding of the regions that we are visiting. We were also given our journals, IBSM t-shirt and our OWN name cards! How cool is that! =)

I was also appointed the photographer for the trip! Hope I do a good job! =)

After the 5 days of workshop, I feel that my group is more bonded and we get to know each other better. I think the other groups are pretty bonded as well. But we aren’t that bonded as a whole yet. The workshop help me understand more about International Business thru the short lectures and what we are suppose to find out at the end of the trip for our project. I get to know more about the all the other regions that we will be visiting.

Looking forward to the whole trip!!

Time to pack my luggage =)