After spending some time in the older and more traditional part of China, many of the group members couldn’t await the arrival in the – let’s call it – animated Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong is seen as one of the most advanced cities in the world, it’s not exempted from logistical problems. In addition to the late arrival of our plane, there also was some misguidance of our luggage. Therefore, it can be said that it is important not to depend on punctuality of planes in Hong Kong.
Nevertheless of this series of unfortunate events we made it to UBS, where Lorenz made it possible to visit Mr. Eigenmann from the bank’s corporate banking division in Hong Kong. The building itself, called the International Finance Center (IFC), is worth a comment in this blog. After spending most of our time in rather manufacturing plants, we stumbled upon something slightly different at UBS. The huge skyscraper with dazzling views was more than a welcome change for the group. At UBS we gained some highly interesting insights into the financial industry in Southeast Asia and how the corporate business at UBS operates as a “start up” within the bank. The branch’s main goal is to win local subsidiaries of Swiss entities as its clients. Furthermore, UBS aims to get in contact and open business relationships with companies that have recently been founded in Hong Kong by their Swiss headquarters. It was pointed out that enticing customers away from competitors is challenging and requires a lot of effort. However, once it comes to convincing prospects with “Swissness”, there is still a good chance to make the deal and enlarge customer base.
After having left the IFC tower, we experienced our first tube ride to the Kowloon side of Hong Kong. When thinking of complaining SBB customers in Switzerland, this gets a whole new meaning for us. There was some serious beting that someone wouldn’t make it out of the tube but fortunately, everyone made it to the hotel save and sound.
Third fun fact about Hong Kong – there is always a way at Mr. Wongs it seems nearly impossible to fit so many people in such limited space but this guy works his magic every night of the week so we’ve heard. Moreover was the atmosphere through the roof and the food was suprisingly delicous. After getting home early we realised this vibrant city and it’s city lights definitly never gone to sleep………….ever. But the motto for this trip so far don’t hate appreciate!!!!
The next morning we had the pleasure to welcome Monica Yan from IRC Global Executive Search at one of the hotels meeting rooms. She shared her knowledge about the current hiring market in China with us. Her enthusiasm for her field of work was infectious and the insights were highly cherished by the students.
Simultanious with the ending of the presentations the majority of the students went on for some sightseeing in Hong Kong.
Don’t close without a fun fact – on Saturday, Hong Kong experienced the hottest day in almost 50 years (it’s true – we googled it and google works now). 🙂
