Peter Wong feted for a lifelong career in banking
Annual event names Wheelock’s Douglas Woo Business Person of the Year
Peter Wong Tung-shun, the non-executive Asia-Pacific chairman of Hong Kong’s largest bank, HSBC, was recognised by the city’s longest-running business awards for a banking career that spanned four decades.
Wong, 72, received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 DHL/SCMP Hong Kong Business Awards, the highest honour in an annual celebration of corporate achievements.
“I’ve witnessed 11 crises in my 40-year banking career. Today, all the crises of the past have come together to form the perfect storm,” said Wong, a Hong Kong representative to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
“Many young people are troubled by the current situation. My message to the business community of today is to please guide the young people to lead them [through this crisis] because they are the future.”
The Lifetime Achievement Award is a discretionary honour that is only bestowed when worthy candidates are available.
“The Hong Kong Business Awards not only measure commercial success, but also the commitment to make the world a better place to live in,” said Ng Chee Choong, senior vice-president and managing director of
DHL Express Hong Kong & Macau, during a gala dinner at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Wan Chai.
“The winners have innovated and elevated their businesses against the headwinds, but more importantly they kept their social responsibility close to their hearts, in the same way we in DHL live our purpose of ‘Connecting People, Improving Lives’.”
The awards have run since 1990, but presentation dinners in 2019 and 2020 were suspended during the anti-government protests and the Covid-19 pandemic. In-person gatherings resumed when controls were eased.
The awards have shifted the weight of their adjudication criteria towards corporate governance and social responsibility, to honour entrepreneurs and firms that gave back to society and took care of their employees.
“We recognise and celebrate the vital contributions of Hong Kong’s distinguished companies and business individuals, [because] the decisions that business leaders make today can have a far-reaching impact in the long term,” said Catherine So, chief executive of the South China Morning Post.
Douglas Woo Chun-kuen, chairman and managing director of Wheelock and Company, was the Business Person of the Year. Mary Huen Wai-yi, chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank, won the Executive Award.
Jebsen Group, the century-old conglomerate that brought Porsche and Blue Girl beer to
Hong Kong, received the Enterprise Award.
Pharmaron Beijing, which provides research and manufacturing, medical tools and clinical research for discovering, developing and producing small-molecule drugs, cell and gene therapy, received the International Award.
The China Company Award, a category created to honour mainland China-based companies listed in Hong Kong, was withheld this year due to a lack of eligible contenders.
GoGoChart Technology, which provides marketing solutions optimised for the smartphone, was the Small & Medium Enterprise of the Year.
Yoov Internet Technology (HK), which provides digital corporate management systems, was Start-up of the Year.