Kowloon Chamber of Commerce

Introduction

The Kowloon Chamber of Commerce was first established in 1938 at No.504 Shanghai Street under the name of Mongkok Chamber of Commerce. Membership increased significantly in 1939 mainly from the commercial and private sectors in the Kowloon area. Hence, the Chamber changed its name to Kowloon Chamber of Commerce and has since been managed by an Executive Committee and supervised by a Supervisory Committee. It held its first inauguration on 28^th December in the same year. Thereafter, the Chamber holds its periodical inauguration function on the same day of the year.

The Chamber resumed its activities on 12^th September 1945 following the end of World War II. Operations of the Chamber grew bigger and the Chamber moved to No.122 Prince Edward Road, Kowloon and elected Mr. Robert Der as the Chairman of the Executive Committee. The Chamber finally moved to its present permanent address at No.2 Liberty Avenue, Kowloon which was acquired in 1950.

In view of the lack of education facilities after the War, the Chamber established its first English secondary school in 1951 and then a Chinese primary school and kindergarten in 1956. The site of the permanent address at No.2 Liberty Avenue was redeveloped to a 28-storeyed building to cater for expansion and development. The reconstruction work was completed in 1984.

The aims of Chamber are to unite and promote the benefit of the community and coordinate communication between local and foreign commercial sector. The Chamber enjoys good relation with business organizations and commercial concerns both in China and overseas, and to strengthen such ties, the Chamber frequently sent delegations to such organizations. The Chamber was incorporated under the Companies Ordinance in 1954 as a limited company and is a non-profitable organization.

At present, the Chamber was over 2,000 members and 41 corporate members from various industries, including: spinning, garments, electronic, plastic, toys, electrical, metal, tourism, construction, finance, insurance, transportation, jewelry, food & beverage, restaurant, watches, chemical, leather-goods, machinery, ironworks, electro-plating, shipping, furniture, decoration, timber, rattan, medical and pharmaceutical, seafood, laundry, mines, china-ware, artwork, culture, emporium, land-development and professionals including doctors, dentists, surveyors, accountants and solicitors.

Normal Chamber operations include:

1. Issue of Certificate of Origin & other business document,

2. Answering overseas enquiries,

3. Development of business opportunity for members,

4. Provision of overseas information of members, and

5. Exploration of overseas markets.

The Chamber is a member of the CACCI and has a very close relation with the countries in Asia Pacific region.

The Chamber also participates in charitable various activities. Apart from regular donation to many established charitable organizations, the Chamber also donates scholarships to universities and colleges in Hong Kong to help the needy students and provide a better second generation for the society.