Hong Kong economic trade officer shares insights with business students
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Hong Kong.
It’s a place that is on the mind of many business executives around the world. It’s a city that ranks as the fifth most important city in the world in the 2014 Global Cities Index behind New York City, London, Tokyo and Paris. It is a place with a major capitalist service economy characterized by low taxation and free trade. It is the third most important international financial center.
Lipscomb University College of Business students, faculty and administrators along with leaders from the Nashville business community recently had a unique opportunity to learn more about Hong Kong’s role in the economy and in the world.
“Hong Kong is my favorite city in the world,” said Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry. “It has a wonderful mix of British and Chinese cultures, intense commerce and great beauty. Everyone should go there at least once during their lifetime.”
On Nov. 14, Steve Barclay, director of the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in New York City, visited campus to share information about the Hong Kong economy and what’s on the horizon for organizations doing business in that city. He was the featured speaker at a breakfast hosted by the College of Business’ Center for Global Connectedness and Collaboration, directed by Mike Kendrick, associate dean for global business.
He gave the crowd gathered in the Paul Rogers Board Room in the Ezell Center a brief history of Hong Kong to set the context for economic conditions that exist today and for the interconnectedness among economies around the world.
“The Hong Kong economy is very open and is affected by what happens with any of our trading partners such as China, the United States, Europe and Japan,” said Barclay, who directed the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Sydney, Australia, for four years prior to moving to the New York office this past summer. “If there is a slowdown in the economy in, say, China, there will be a slowdown in our economy.”
Barclay noted that a “crack down on corruption” in business in China has led to a “dramatic decrease” in the sale of luxury items in Hong Kong.
He said that the Hong Kong economy closely follows the United States economy.
“The United States has always been a very important business and trade partner,” said Barclay. “We mirror the U.S. economy in many ways. The Hong Kong dollar is tied to the U.S. dollar, and we have no intention of changing that. If the value of the U.S. dollar drops, then that country’s goods and services are cheaper, as are ours.”
“The challenge for us is that we aren’t in the same economic cycle as the United States at times,” he continued. “For example, the U.S. currently has low interest rates. Hong Kong has a housing bubble as a result. We have to suck it up if we want to retain the connection. The certainty and stability it gives Hong Kong is worth the risk.”
Prior to his work with the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office, Barclay was a public sector reform advocate and internal management consultant in the Government’s Efficiency Unit for nearly a decade.
Barclay has served a variety of posts with policy responsibilities including consumer protection, intellectual property, housing and environmental protection. He has served as a district officer in Hong Kong and also as that city’s economic and commercial representative in Brussels. Barclay has twice been responsible for drafting the chief executive’s policy address.
He was first appointed to the Hong Kong government as an inspector in the city’s police force in 1979. He transferred to the civil service branch in 1982.
Lipscomb’s Center for Global Connectedness and Collaboration was created to engage the business community in the management of global organizations and the impact of global organizations on local and regional businesses and works to develop understanding of the art and science of managing global organizations across diverse cultures with different economic, legal and political systems.
For more information about the College of Business visit business.lipscomb.edu.