The 2021 DHL-SCMP Hong Kong Business Awards (HKBA) kicked off the nomination process to honour outstanding management, corporate and entrepreneurial achievements over the past 12 months, when the city was mired in recession amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The 2021 awards comprise seven categories: business-person of the year, executive, start-up, international award, enterprise, small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) and China company. The eighth award is a discretionary honour that recognises outstanding lifetime achievements, and is reserved only for worthy candidates.
The 32nd edition of one of Hong Kong’s longest running business awards comes on the heels of the city’s worst economic recession on record, weighed down by a worldwide coronavirus pandemic that has crimped consumption and business travels, leaving in its wake record unemployment and business closures.
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“Thankfully, businesses have now started to recover. With lower numbers of COVID-19 cases, the city is starting to once again become vibrant in all aspects, boosted by the emergence of e-commerce, which is here to stay even after the pandemic,” said DHL Express Hong Kong and Macau’s Managing Director Ng Chee Choong. “In view of this development and in line with HKBA’s 32-year mission and vision, this year’s programme includes the new pandemic response rating to recognise Hong Kong businesses’ and individuals’ strong entrepreneurial effort to rise above the challenges we have all experienced.”
Judges of the 2021 DHL-SCMP Hong Kong Business Awards (front row L to R): Hong Kong Trade Development Council’s Deputy Executive Director Patrick Lau, University of Hong Kong Faculty of Business and Economics’ Assistant Dean and Principal Lecturer Winnie Leung, University of Hong Kong’s Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor Richard Wong, DHL Express Hong Kong and Macau’s Managing Director Ng Chee Choong, SCMP’s Chief Executive Officer Gary Liu, SCMP’s Business Editor Eugene Tang, The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce’s Chief Executive Officer George Leung, The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong’s Standing Committee Member and Chairman of the Ladies Committee Janice Choi; (back row L to R) Junior Chamber International Hong Kong’s 2021 National President Winnie Yeung, Orthodontist and Director of Central Smile Limited Derek Baram, Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Limited’s Managing Director Kent Wong, HKBN’s Co-owner and Group CEO Niq Lai, Airwallex Senior Vice-President for Brands, Communications and Partnerships Susan Ho as a representative for 2021 Judge Jack Zhang, Co-Founder and CEO of Airwallex, and HSBC’s Head of Commercial Banking Frank Fang, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Central on 16 July 2021. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Last year’s winners were led by the Luen Thai Group’s founder Tan Siu-lin, one of Hong Kong’s best-known philanthropists, in a line-up that acknowledged contributions to social responsibility, charity and corporate governance amid hard times in the city.
