HONG KONG – K. Wah Group held its spring cocktail reception at the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong today to express gratitude to business partners and the community for their long-term support and also to celebrate the advent of the Chinese New Year, as well as the stellar performance of its four major businesses in the past year.
The reception was graced by the presence of top government officials and business leaders in Hong Kong and from Mainland China and Macau. It had The Hon Tung Chee Hwa, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Ms Yin Xiaojing, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR; Mr Hu Jianzhong, Deputy Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR; Mr Godfrey Leung, Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR; Professor Sophia Chan, Under Secretary for Food and Health of the HKSAR; and Ms Florence Hui, Under Secretary for Home Affairs of the HKSAR as the officiating guests, who hosted a toasting ceremony together with Dr Lui Che-woo, Chairman of K. Wah Group; Mrs CW Lui, and other management of the Group. Other distinguished guests included The Hon Gregory So, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR; The Hon Mrs Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, Hong Kong’s Delegate of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the PRC; Mr Henry Tang Ying-yen, Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Mr Peter Lam, Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board; Mr Chan Wing Kee, Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Prof Tony F Chan, President of HKUST; Prof Aron Harilela, Chairman and CEO of Harilela Hotels Limited and Mr Edward Ho, Chairman of Opera Hong Kong, etc.
Dr Lui Che-woo, Chairman of K. Wah Group, said in his speech, “Notwithstanding challenges in the business environment in the Year of Monkey, the four principal business divisions of K. Wah Group – property development, entertainment & leisure, construction materials and hospitality – continued to deliver solid results on all fronts thanks to the unfailing support of all stakeholders and partners, as well as the concerted effort of our 33,000-strong workforce. Our achievements have not come by easily: they have been built on the practical, collective efforts of our workforce. In this regard, I must express sincere gratitude to all of you for your trust and support, and may I add that I am most proud of the brilliant management team and staff at K. Wah. In today’s business community, we get to hear a lot about “corporate responsibility”. In my humble view, the fundamental responsibility of a corporation is to make contributions to the society, create job opportunities and maintain stability in business, running it properly and then seeking expansion as appropriate, and making itself accountable to the community, partners, customers and staff.”
Four major businesses reach new milestones
In coming year, the Group’s four major businesses will continue to grow steadily sustaining the good results from the past years. With a total investment up to HK$100 billion, the major developments of Phases 3 and 4 of Galaxy MacauTM under Galaxy Entertainment Group (“GEG”) had gradually begun. With the Hengqin project soon to kick off in its planning, GEG will continue to reinforce its leadership as an integrated leisure and entertainment resort with the most diverse offerings in Macau and strive to realise its goal to become globally recognised as “Asia’s leading gaming and entertainment enterprise”.
On the property business front, K. Wah International Holdings Limited (“KWIH”) secured a second land parcel in the Kai Tak Development Area and a prime land parcel in Nanjing last December. In addition, KWIH participated in a new joint venture project in Nanjing last month, and with the closing of HK$8 billion club deal loan with 15 banks, enabling it to enhance its strengths and expand its business footprint. It will continue to launch a number of major projects in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Dongguan, so as to achieve continuous asset turnover this year.
As for its hotel business, the Group will launch a new serviced apartment project on Hong Kong Island this year. Progress will also be made in the US with four new hotels in Times Square of New York City, the heart of Washington DC, Seattle and San Francisco respectively and are scheduled to open this year and in 2018.
Furthermore, K. Wah Construction Materials Limited (“KWCM”) is undertaking asphalt resurfacing work for the airport’s north runway, a vivid example of its active involvement in major local infrastructure projects. Its cement factory in Pu’er, Yunnan with an annual production capacity of up to 2 million tonnes commenced operation last year and the overall KWCM’s production capacity of cement is now up to 12 million tonnes per year. KWCM has over 70% market share in Southwest region and is one of the largest ground granulated blast-furnace slag producers in China, with an annual production volume of over 1.3 million tonnes.
Giving back to society and helping to foster social harmony and unity
Apart from growing its businesses, K. Wah Group continued to uphold its belief of “giving back to the society from which it benefits”. With that belief at heart, it shouldered responsibility for society and the world and made contributions to education and other aspects of humanity. Last year, the LUI Che Woo Prize – Prize for World Civilisation was inaugurated and the first prizes were presented, recognising outstanding achievements of individuals who have contributed to civilisation and bringing together all sectors in society to promote the love for “truth, kindness and beauty”, contributing to build a harmonious society.
Advocating harmony and innovation and supporting arts for all
The cocktail reception featured a series of magnificent performances, leading off with a traditional-and-hip-hop mix lion dance which married modern pop dance moves with the traditional lion dance, a perfect mirror of the Group’s management culture that blends the East and West and its innovative spirit. Following immediately after was an original Chinese opera performance titled The Master by the members of the Cha Duk Chang Children’s Cantonese Opera Association. The young performers presented a scene themed The Family from the title, the story of three children in the present time, who lost themselves in electronic games and neglected their family, returning to ancient times and re-learning the basics of life. The performance, which took the fun-filled evening to another climax, highlighted the importance of the family,” a vivid echo of Dr Lui’s wish to promote the building of harmonious homes.
On top of the God of Wealth giving out red packets, at the reception, creative interactive booths were set up by the four major business arms of the Group. KWIH used virtual reality (VR) technology to let guests visiting its flagship property projects in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Dongguan by themselves, whereas KWCM highlighted its business nature by featuring a special flooring made by recycled glass pavers and it also had a paper-cutting expert at the booth to create different artworks for guests. The hotel business segment invited guests to savour the whisky macaron collection debuted in Hong Kong by InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong, while GEG had a lucky draw and enrich guests with attractive prizes. All these activities made the event fun and colourful.
Officiating Guests
1. The Hon Tung Chee Hwa, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
2. Ms Yin Xiaojing, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR
3. Mr Hu Jianzhong, Deputy Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR
4. Mr Godfrey Leung, Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, the Government of the HKSAR
5. Professor Sophia Chan, Under Secretary for Food and Health, the Government of the HKSAR
6. Ms Florence Hui, Under Secretary for Home Affairs, the Government of the HKSAR
7. Dr & Mrs Lui Che-woo, Chairman of K. Wah Group
8. Mr Francis Lui, Vice Chairman of K. Wah Group
9. Ms Paddy Lui, Executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings & Galaxy Entertainment Group
10. Mr Alexander Lui, Executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings
11. Mr Joseph Chee, Executive Director of Galaxy Entertainment Group & Managing Director of K. Wah Construction Materials
12. Dr William Yip, Independent Non-executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings & Galaxy Entertainment Group
13. Dr Robin Chan, Independent Non-executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings
14. Dr Moses Cheng, Non-executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings & Member, Board of Governors of LUI Che Woo Prize Limited
15. Mr Wong Kwai Lam, Independent Non-executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings
16. Mr Au Man Chu, Independent Non-executive Director of K. Wah International Holdings
17. Dr Charles Cheung, Non-executive Director of Galaxy Entertainment Group
18. Professor Patrick Wong, Independent Non-executive Director of Galaxy Entertainment Group
19. Ms Eileen Lui, Group Director – Human Resources and Administration of Galaxy Entertainment Group
20. Dr Jorge Neto Valente, Group Advisor of Galaxy Entertainment Group
21. Mr Philip Cheng, Director of Galaxy Entertainment Group
22. Mr Michael Mecca, President of Galaxy Entertainment Group
23. Mr Robert Drake, Group Chief Financial Officer of Galaxy Entertainment Group
24. Professor Lap-chee Tsui, Member, Board of Governors, LUI Che Woo Prize Limited
25. Professor Frederick Ma, Member, Board of Governors, LUI Che Woo Prize Limited – BusinessNewsAsia.com