MADE IN HONG KONG 

Lysanne Tusar left Vancouver to open Hong Kong’s first winery, the 8th Estate Winery,  almost 7 years ago and she joins us to discuss what led her to take this giant leap of faith. The grapes aren’t cultivated in Hong Kong as the city is too humid and dense for that -- instead, Lysanne works with a master vinter to select grapes from around the world. The grapes are harvested, frozen and shipped to HK where they are thawed, then aged and blended at the company headquarters. 8th Estate Winery is the only winery in the world that has 5 vintages from 5 different countries under one roof! What were the challenges in setting up the first winery in Hong Kong under the age of 30? 

Guest: LYSANNE TUSAR, DIRECTOR AND CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, THE 8TH ESTATE WINERY (Vancouver native)

PBCTW - Good In China - Hong Kong - 8th Estate Winery

GENDER IMBALANCE AT THE EXECUTIVE LEVEL: A GLOBAL CHALLENGE 

Companies across Canada are striving to create gender diversity at the executive level and here in Hong Kong there seems to be an even bigger gap but not due to lack of opportunity or available jobs. Jan De Silva says there isn’t any gender discrimination in China but rather an aspiration gap on behalf of women -- many women pull back because they need to tutor their children full-time to prepare their children for their exams in kindergarten (yes, kindergarten)! Does the term, Tiger Mom come to mind? While Nick Marsh and Kirti Lad agree that an aspiration gap is part of the problem, they don’t think it’s the only challenge preventing women from getting a seat at the table. Nick and Kirti say that self-doubt and lack of confidence is a big barrier -- what’s the solution? Harvey Nash Asia Pacific recently partnered with the University of Hong Kong to create the Women’s Directorship Program last year and their goal is to enable women to gain confidence to enter the executive level. What’s the message to send to women who are hesitant to enter certain occupations that are male-dominated? 


Guest: JAN DE SILVA, DEAN OF IVEY ASIA AND FORMER CEO, SUN LIFE HONG KONG (born in Ontario but has been living in HK since 2000 - came for 1 year and never left) 

Guest: NICK MARSH, MANAGING DIRECTOR, HARVEY NASH ASIA PACIFIC (joining forces with the University of Hong Kong on the Women’s Directorship Programme) 

Guest: KIRTI LAD, DIRECTOR, HARVEY NASH ASIA PACIFIC AND DIRECTOR OF BOARD SERVICES FOR ASIA PACIFIC 

PBCTW - Good In China - Hong Kong - Gender Imbalance

SNAPSHOT OF TRADE AND BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BC AND HONG KONG  
  
Hong Kong is a commercial and financial powerhouse with longstanding connections to the stable economy of BC. The Hong Kong International Trade and Investment Office representing BC is one of BC’s newest offices in China and it’s led by our next guest. Brian Brown is no stranger to life in Hong Kong -- he worked with Morgan Stanley Hong Kong from 2000-2008 as COO, Asia Distribution and Head of Systemic trading. How does Brian’s office work to assist BC companies in expanding into the market?  

Guest: BRIAN BROWN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT OFFICE REPRESENTING THE GOVERNMENT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA IN HONG KONG AND MACAU 

PBCTW - Good In China - Hong Kong - Snapshot Of Biz Between HK and BC

OUT WITH THE NOODLE HOUSES AND IN WITH TIFFANY, CHANEL AND HERMES 

Before we set off on our trip to China, we heard stories about the influx of mainland Chinese tourists transforming entire districts of Hong Kong, sending commercial property prices through the roof. Sandy says 40 million tourists come to Hong Kong and about 60% of them are coming from mainland China. Should there be a cap for mainland tourists? Not everyone is happy to see local shops and noodle boxes being replaced with high-end luxury stores. Does Hong Kong rely heavily on spending by visitors from the Chinese mainland? If so, why is there a growing minority of HK residents who don’t want them around in such large numbers? What impact is the rush of tourists having on property prices? 

Guest: SANDY LI CHAU-WA, DEPUTY PROPERTY EDITOR, SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST 

PBCTW - Good In China - Hong Kong - Influx Of Chinese Tourism

THE LARGEST PRIVATE REVENUE SOURCE FOR THE CANADIAN MEN’S RUGBY 7s TEAM… AND IT’S BASED IN HONG KONG! 

Every year, the Hong Kong 7s welcomes teams from around  the world to one of the biggest rugby 7s parties hosted by any participating country in the 7s world series. As we established earlier, there are hundreds of thousands of Canadians living in HK and naturally, there’s a lot of support for Canada in the Hong Kong stadium each year. But the Canadian National team continued to disappoint Canadian expats year in and year out. Being an amateur team, they were outperformed by professional squads from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. In 2005, two of those devastated Canadian expats, Randy Heward and John Woodward came up with the idea of the Canadian Rugby 7s Fund to raise money to bolster the Canadian team and they have surpassed expectations! In 2013, $188,000 was raised and the growing support has helped Canada become a top tier competitor internationally, at the Hong Kong 7s and qualifiers for the 2016 Olympics. We’ll talk about what it’s like running the largest private revenue source for the Canadian Men’s Rugby team -- out of Hong Kong! And also, what inspired these two BC’ers to move to Hong Kong and never look back? 

Guest: STEPHANIE CROZIER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 
CANADIAN RUGBY 7S FUND (originally from Victoria, BC - lived in HK for 9 years) 

PBCTW - Good In China - Hong Kong - Canada's Rugby 7s Fundraiser

FROM TREE TO TABLE: BC CHERRIES IN CHINA

From tree to table in about 24 hours. A BC Cherry leaves the tree first thing in the morning and arrives on the table in Hong Kong the next day. BC Cherries are big business in China with the BC Cherry Association estimating that by the end of this year, the sales value of fresh cherries to China will be $10 million, increasing to $20 million over the next 5 years. Our next guest works for the biggest importer of fresh fruits in HK and will bring us up to speed on the value of BC Cherries and blueberries to his company. Last year, Leo estimates that he imported 13 containers of BC white and dark cherries. 

Guest: LEO CHEUNG, P&C INTERNATIONAL TRADING (Leo’s father founded the company 30 years ago) 

PBCTW - Good In China - Hong Kong - From Tree To Table

THE WINE MARKET IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST CANADIAN CITIES OUTSIDE CANADA 

Joseph started his company 4 years ago and he never in a million years thought he would be importing Canadian wine. Joseph got hooked on BC wine after taking a trip to the Okanagan in November of 2012 -- and in January of 2013 he placed an order from BC! Cuvees stocks 23 different BC VQA wines of BC, either online or on the wine list at several high end Hong Kong restaurants. These are wines BC’ers know and love including Laughing Stock, Nk’Mip (inka-MEEP) Cellars, Poplar Grove, Quails Gate Winery, Sandhill and Therapy Wines. Recently, Cuvees announced a strategic partnership with the British Columbia Wine Institute which aims to make BC wine more accessible to consumers in the HK market. We discussed the BC wine market in Shanghai earlier this week but with so many Canadians in HK, is BC wine a hotter commodity here? 

Guest: JOSEPH LUK, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND FOUNDER, CUVEES 

PBCTW - Good In China - Hong Kong - The Wine Market

BUSINESS LANDSCAPE IN HONG KONG 

Andrew is a permanent resident of Hong Kong and is passionately committed to the future success of the city. How much of Hong Kong’s success depends on trade and business partnerships with Canada? How has the city’s business and cultural landscape changed since Andrew moved here 18 years ago? If Hong Kong was part of Canada, it would rank as Canada’s 16th largest city, according to a 2011 study for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. The report found that based on conservative assumptions, the number of Canadians living in HK is about 295, 930. Is the decision to live in HK based on family ties or greater job opportunities? What implications does this ongoing reverse migration have for Hong Kong and Vancouver? 

Guest: ANDREW WORK, PAST PRESIDENT, THE CANADIAN 
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN HONG KONG AND PUBLISHER, HARBOUR TIMES AND CEO, NEW WORK MEDIA 

PBCTW - Good In China - Hong Kong - Business Landscape In Hong Kong

Putting BC To Work: Outside Looking In

A chat with people from BC who are now living abroad about why they left and what would convince them to move back.

PBCTW - Attracting BC'ers Back To Province - April 25

Putting BC to work: The international meteoric rise of the BC wine industry

Guest: John Schreiner - Canadian wine author and expert

PBCTW - Meteoric Rise Of The BC Wine Industry - John Schreiner - April 25

Listen to CKNW Business Class for our special multi-media series dedicated to the #1 issue facing BC's future, JOBS AND UNEMPLOYMENT!
Taking off on March 31st!


CKNW Business Class

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