New head sets out fresh agenda for flagging Japanese chamber

Hiroshi Ito wants to breathe new life into the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has seen its membership drop to 674 companies from a peak of 790 before the onset of the regional financial crisis.

Mr Ito took the chamber's helm on June 23, the first time in the group's 31-year history that its president has been drawn from outside Mitsubishi (Hong Kong), the local unit of the trading giant.

Mr Ito hails from Mitsui & Co, also a trading company, where he serves as chairman and managing director of SAR operations.

At the top of his agenda are regular meetings, both among the group's members and with representatives of his own government, the Hong Kong Government, the mainland central government and sister organisations in Guangdong province. He also hopes to draw greater attention to charitable works undertaken by Japanese companies in Hong Kong.

'Media attention is very much focused on the withdrawal of banks and department stores,' he said. 'We would like to put more effort into public relations and try to promote our projects.' Among the hoped-for projects is a meeting with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, at which representatives of the chamber could discuss how to boost the ranks of Japanese tourists visiting Hong Kong and review how Japan, which has greatly eased its own pollution problems, could help the SAR do the same.

Another project has already advanced a step. Mr Ito and two of his chamber colleagues recently met Liu Shanzai, the deputy director of Beijing's local liaison office.