Business With Purpose: New Initiative In Hong Kong Launched By HKMA & Social Ventures

A new collaboration between the Hong Kong Management Association (HKMA) and Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVhk), an organisation supporting social enterprises, has been forged to drive the growth of value-led businesses in the city. Working together as an impact partnership, the two organisations will seek to accelerate the “business with purpose” movement, help tackle environmental and social challenges, and open up new opportunities for talent in the city. 

As part of the new partnership between HKMA and SVhk, a series of initiatives will be launched promoting purpose-driven businesses within Hong Kong’s corporate community. The two organisations will co-create an impact strategy for HKMA’s network, which spans around 13,000 members and 50,000 participants who take part in its training programmes each year. 

Some of these initiatives include offering awards for enterprises that incorporate purpose into their businesses, brainstorming potential opportunities for companies to make an environmental or social impact, as well as workshops and seminars for professionals in Hong Kong designed to nurture talent in the area of sustainability. 

Through the comprehensive initiatives covered by this partnership, we definitely look forward to the positive impacts that will be brought on the business community at large.

Dr. Victor Lee, Executive Director, HKMA

“As passionate believers in the value of social good in making the community a better place to do business, to work and to live, we are excited to join hands with SVhk to lead the purpose movement in business and set directions for an era of purpose ahead,” commented Dr. Victor Lee, executive director of the HKMA. 

“Through the comprehensive initiatives covered by this partnership, we definitely look forward to the positive impacts that will be brought on the business community at large.”

Francis Ngai, the founder and CEO of SVhk, added that the two organisations hope to drive change in Hong Kong’s business sector “into a more purposeful one”. 

Among some of the local social enterprises that SVhk has previously supported or incubated include the plant-based group Green Monday, who has since its founding become one of the leading forces in the global alternative protein landscape, and HATCH, the co-working factory that seeks to lift women out of poverty through artisanal “made-in-HK” products.

“We believe our joint efforts will encourage more businesses to embark on this meaningful journey, and we are hopeful that together we can turn Hong Kong’s social and environmental challenges into driving forces for growth,” Ngai continued.

We are hopeful that together we can turn Hong Kong’s social and environmental challenges into driving forces for growth.

Francis Ngal, Founder & CEO, SVhk

The launch of the new campaign to foster impact, value-led businesses in Hong Kong comes amid a reckoning across the global corporate world, fuelled by the conscious consumerism trend that has primarily been led by millennials and Gen Zs who are changing the way brands behave with their collective pressure. 

Market research has shown that shoppers are not only increasingly willing to purchase from brands that “take a stand” for social issues, but are also more than ever before looking for sustainable goods across every product category and boycotting those whose values don’t align with their own. 

One Hong Kong entrepreneur, fashion industry veteran Lois Tien who recently started a sustainable clothing brand, recently spoke to Green Queen Media about the decision behind her impact-driven approach to her new venture, saying that it’s no longer a negotiable for companies of today to “give back” to be successful. 

“I think it’s a must,” she said. “So what newly created brands have to come with is a driving mission of how to positively contribute back.” 

Lead image courtesy of Unsplash.