Category Archives: Hong Kong

[event]: Sustainable Building Engagement

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Introduction
The Hong Kong Council for Sustainable Development is conducting a stakeholder engagement process to gain views from the professionals and the community. HAESCO is delight to host a briefing by Mr Kevin Edmunds, COO of Business Environment Council, will brief members.

Part III of the Invitation and Response document will be particularly interesting for HAESCO members, it covers building energy efficiency.

Location: Hong Kong Productivity Council, HKPC Building, 78 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong
Room: Conference Room 1
Date: 20 August 2009
Time: 5.00 – 6.00pm
Cost: Free but limited seating
Language: English
Registration: email or fax your reply slip to info@haesco.hk

Download Registration (PDF)

Assistance fund for exhibition

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Our Mr David Leung HAESCO events committee chairman has been working hard, he has done some research on government funding and wants to share his experience to benefit our members.

Members that are Hong Kong registered companies could have the opportunity to apply for government assistance to help cover the cost to attend exhibitions such as EcoAsiaExpo. Members should apply for SME Export Marketing Funding according to the TID, for HKTDC’s trade show and exhibitions . Please check the following website for more information:

http://www.smefund.tid.gov.hk/eng

or call 23985125. Be aware, first and foremost, don’t throw away any receipts, you will need it late. The following reminders for applicants:

Reminders:

  • A duly completed application form;
  • A photocopy of the valid Business Registration (BR) Certificate of the applicant;
  • A photocopy of the valid Hong Kong Identity Card or Passport of the person signing the application form for and on behalf of the applicant;
  • Original and copy of receipt(s) in relation to the payment made by the applicant for the declared expenditures and copy of the relevant invoices/quotations/contracts, etc. The name of the payer on the receipt(s) must be the same as the name of the applicant. Expenditures not paid by the applicant are not eligible for grants under the EMF;
  • Certified Extract/Electronic Extract of Information on the Business Register [i.e. Form 1(a) of the BR Office] and/or Annual Return of the Companies Registry (i.e. Form AR1); and
  • A completed Additional Declaration Form if the applicant’s BR has more than one branch.
  • For applicants who are exhibitors of trade fairs/exhibitions or delegation members of business missions, the following supporting documents are also required :
  • Brochures or pamphlets containing details to substantiate the declared information of the export promotion activity and the company profile of the organiser (name of the organiser, activity name and details, date of the activity, etc must be clearly shown);
  • Evidence to substantiate the applicant’s participation in the activity (e.g. delegation list, fair directory with exhibitor’s information, photo of booth showing the exhibitor name and booth number, exhibitor badge and/or travelling and accommodation proof of employers/employees participating in the activity, etc);
  • Evidence showing that representative(s) attending the activity are employers/ employees (e.g. Mandatory Provident Fund records).
  • For applicants who have advertised in trade publications, the following is also required:
  • Original copy of the trade publication containing the concerned advertisement.

Individual companies that wish to inquiry should contact TID directly.

Disclaimer
This information is for general use only, it is not a guarantee, legal advice nor financial advice, you should always seek independent professional advice before entertaining any contract.

{ update: 24 August 2009 The URL/Link for SME marketing fund has been corrected and updated }

Hong Kong Energy Business Forum June 2009

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HAESCO together with FOE (Friends of the Earth) organised a forum, but unlike other events delegate’s had the opportunity to express their view on the energy business sector in Hong Kong to everyone present.

With over 100 delegates, they where seated around a table forming teams, and each team comprised 8-10 people.

Angus from FOE had a prepared a few questions in advance to entice the teams to answer in their response. After the discussion period the table leader was invited to the stage to deliver the views of their table to the audience, and received a Oneclick technologies energy saving plug.

One issue each table offered was education, educating government, educating business, and educating the general public.  It is a key issue, if we want wider acceptance of alternate business models, including performance contracting, business needs to know these options exist. Not to replace traditional ways of doing business, but to supplement them. Performance Contacts is just one option, it will never suit everyone and that’s fine. In other countries the ESCO companies started with government projects, then moved into the private sector, here the Hong Kong government has been painfully slow to show any interest, hoping that the commercial sector will be enough.

Hong Kong government or LEGCO didn’t offer any opinion.

Another important outcome was the financing for energy efficiency, presently banks and LFI’s (Local Financial Institutions) are stuck, only offering traditional loan services based on upfront collateral, and also fail to recognise the resulting cashflow generated by energy efficiency projects.

Delegates put forward a number of opinions, including loan guarantee by Hong Kong government, the setting up of a fund, and others. As other have any already pointed out, the existing SME loan guarantee scheme is not working as intended, and doesn’t educate the banks about energy project finance.

In addition to the forum session, a number of exhibitions booths allowed delegates to browse the latest services, equipment, and technology available.

Along with FOE’s director Mr Edwin Lau FOE opening presentation, Mr John Herbert HAESCO’s Vice chairman was also invited to provide opening remarks.

I must give special thanks to HAESCO’s own Mr Lawrence Wong Oneclick Technologies. Lawrence a founding director of HAESCO provided a free energy saving device for every table leader.

Several HAESCO directors and HAESCO members attended to support the event forum, I thank them all, including Simon Cheng (Honorary Treasurer), Mr Lawrence Wong,  Mr David Leung, Mr Joe Ng,  Mr Thomas Heinrich, and Mr Eddy Lui.

Both David Leung, and Thomas Heinrich also deserve a special mention, and additional thanks for taking up the challenge and supporting the exhibition. Below are some more pictures from the event, including the exhibition booths area.

Finally, I must thank FOE, Angus and all the FOE volunteers for helping organise a worthwhile event.

FOE Survey Results and press

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HAESCO members will recall that  FoE HK (Friend’s of the Earth http://www.foe.org.hk) recently conducted a survey concerning the energy sector and ESCO’s in Hong Kong.

FoE HK released their findings in a press conference last week, with some HAESCO members also attending.  Courtesy of FoE’s Catherine Lau, here is a link for PDF document (750k) with the resultant Chinese and English press clippings from the local press (Sunday, 19 APril 2009):

http://www.haesco.hk/press/2009-04-ESCO_survey.pdf

Here is a link to see a video news clip by ATV (Chinese only):

http://www.hkatvnews.com/v3/share_out/_content/2009/04/19/atvnews_128529.html

FoE’s press release:

Four Billion Dollars’ Market
On Government’s Call

Press Release 8/4/2009

Friends of the Earth (HK) welcomes the governments allocation of a $450 million budget to subsidize the carbon audit and energy efficiency projects of private buildings. This is a step towards the establishment of an energy efficiency industry. FoE (HK) believes an energy conservation market approximating to $4 billion fits the Chief Executive¡¦s vision of developing a green economy while creating jobs, in addition to responding to two environmental issues of air pollution and climate change.

While providing a matching grant for the new energy conservation initiative, the government should not waste time at legislating for Mandatory Building Energy Efficiency Code within the current legislative year to step up the energy efficiency performance. But more importantly, the government should set a citywide energy conservation target to instill a public awareness on the importance of energy reduction.

From 1997 to 2008, the population of Hong Kong has increased by 7.6% while a 27 % increase of electricity consumption was recorded. The exponential growth of electricity use, disproportional to population growth, leaves huge room for energy reduction. The Power Smart contest organized by FoE (HK) last year managed to cut over 1.2 million kwh of electricity within three months, an equivalent of a $10 million electricity bill, which demonstrated how easily it can be saved.

FoE (HK) believes $4 billion savings from electricity use can be translated into an enormous energy conservation market. An energy conservation industry made of energy consulting firms, energy providers for lighting, air conditioning and electricity control, can provide energy services by contract to building owners and private companies with tailor-made energy efficiency plans. The industry can also yield profits by promoting energy saving products or technology, which requires extra manpower. The benefits of a green economy are many: creating jobs, stimulating economy, reducing air pollutants, etc.

The spokesperson of FoE (HK) says, ¡§We use energy wherever we go or stay. A green economy is local, which grows on where it budded.¡¨ Hong Kong provides a fertile soil for the technological development and management of the energy conservation industry, from where experiences could be exported to the mainland.

FoE (HK) recommends the following to the government for the creation of an energy conservation industry:
1) Speedy implementation of Mandatory Building Energy Efficiency Code
2) Set up a citywide energy conservation goal
3) Facilitate energy conservation by listing energy service providers on government websites
4) Provide loans to energy service providers

**** END

Here are the links for the FOE Survey results (English and Chinese) provided by FOE:

http://www.haesco.hk/press/20090419_press release_Eng.pdf
http://www.haesco.hk/press/20090419_pressrelease_Chi.pdf