Report of the Hong Kong Real Estate Services Expo 2003 (Guangdong)

 

A team of delegates comprising Mr. Philip Lo, Dr. M.W. Chan, Mr. P.C. Lau, Mr. John Ho, Mr. Kelvin Wong, Ms. Pearl Chan, Dr. Edward Yiu, and myself took part in the Hong Kong Real Estate Services Expo 2003 held in Guangzhou between 3 and 5 March 2003. During the 3-day Expo, our booth was well received and attracted a lot of visitors, probably because of the novel concept of FM and our neutrality as a professional institute. Our visitors included representatives of developers, property management companies/departments, design & engineering companies, property consultants, professional associations, etc. from various cities and provinces, including Hong Kong. The popularity is best evidenced by the distribution of more than 2,500 HKIFM pamphlets and the receipt of more than 100 name cards and 100 evaluation forms from visitors.

The questions frequently raised by the visitors were:

  1. What is FM?

  2. How is FM different from property management?

  3. How can FM benefit an organization?

  4. What is our Institute about?

  5. What is the relationship between HKIFM and IFMA?

  6. Does our Institute have a China branch?

  7. How can mainland/HK companies join our Institute as PFMEs?

  8. How can those who work in the mainland/HK join our Institute as members?

  9. Will our Institute organise courses or events on FM in the mainland/HK in the near future?

The comments from visitors after reading our posters/pamphlets and listening to our briefings were:

  1. They appreciated the concept of FM and agreed that this is a potential area for future development in the mainland;

  2. They wanted to have more information about FM through our website/publications;

  3. They hoped that we will organize some courses/seminars on FM in the mainland in the future;

  4. They wanted to obtain more information about PFMEs.

On the third day, Dr. Edward Yiu, PFM, on behalf of our Institute, presented a speech for the Expo entitled ‘Quality FM for Modern Corporations? The talk introduced the concept of FM with a case study of the benefits of practicing outsourcing in a large corporation. Although the session was held close to the end of the Expo, there were about 50 people in the audience throughout the session.

The team also proactively gave a brief introduction of our Institute directly to other booths and collected their brochures. Some of the other exhibitors are highly interested in further collaborations. For example, several companies asked for details of becoming PFMEs. Industry magazines also showed interest in having a special issue on our Institute. Some companies practised very innovative space management services and provide opportunities for some good case studies.

We were also approached by some Expo organizers seeking our participation in their future events. For example, the Munich International Trade Fairs Pte Ltd (MMI) will have real estate-related expos in 2003 and 2004 in Singapore and Beijing, respectively. The information may be of interest to our Institute as well as to our PFMEs and members.

We also faced some interesting questions, for example:

  1. A visitor asked how FM is related to the ideology of Marx;

  2. A fitness equipment supplier asked if our Institute provides services for “equipment? management.

Some members of the team also visited a luxurious development on Ir Sa Island, together with Mr. Andrew LEE Chun-lai, President of the Hong Kong Institute of Housing and other representatives.  The overall results of the event have been satisfactory. There is still a lot of room for us to promote our Institute and the FM concept in the mainland and Hong Kong. The experience gained in this Guangzhou Expo will be very useful for our future events. The progress of following up on the above enquiries and opportunities will be reported to all members as soon as they materialise.

Daniel Ho

Pearl Chan

Kelvin Wong &

Edward Yiu

March 2003