(From left): Christopher Wong, Executive Director (IBCE alumnus, Class of 2013);
Charles Wu, Deputy Executive Director & Director of Finance (Integrated BBA / Year 4);
Jasmine Jim, Deputy Executive Director & Director of Delegate Relations (IBCE / Year 3);
Alvin Cheung, Co-Director of Corporate Relations (IBCE / Year 4) and
Venus To, Deputy Executive Director & Director of Marketing and Communications (IBCE / Year 2)
by Venus To, Class of 2018
A team led by five CUHK Business School alumnus/students is getting closer to achieving their ambitious vision of empowering 550 young people this summer through organizing the globally recognized Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) 2016 Asia Conference. The event will be held at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) from 19 to 23 August.
“It all started when we looked at our city and our young friends around us, and felt an urge to do something for our generation—something positive, something that can give us a little more exposure to the world and a little more hope,” says Christopher Wong, Executive Director of HPAIR 2016 Asia Conference and an alumnus of the International Business and Chinese Enterprise (IBCE) program.
HPAIR 2016 Asia Conference is Harvard University’s largest annual student conference in the Asia-Pacific region, attracting over 500 delegates from more than 50 countries to discuss pressing global issues across a wide spectrum, from business to sustainability, to entrepreneurship, humanitarian affairs and diplomacy. Since 1991, this conference has been held in a different Asian city every year.
Following a highly competitive bidding process, the five Business School alumnus/students successfully won the chance to make the conference happen in Hong Kong again after 9 years. The team, led by one alumnus and four current students–Christopher Wong, Charles Wu, Jasmine Jim, Alvin Cheung and Venus To, has been planning for the conference since June 2015. Through the event, the team hopes to encourage the city’s dreamers to go out there and pass on the spirit of empowerment to not just the local community, but the entire region. “It is not just about Hong Kong, nor just about China, but about Asia and the world. And it’s all about giving young people a platform to connect with one another,” the team expressed.
“Inspired by the annual Global Business Forum at CUHK, as well as the annual HPAIR Harvard Conference, we saw the opportunity of hosting an international conference at our own university,” the team added.
Growing from the Bidding Committee to the Organizing Committee, the team has expanded from 20 to over 40 members. “We are blessed to have succeeded in our bid to host the conference, and are grateful to have CUHK’s extensive support throughout the process,” said the team. “So far, it has been an intensive learning journey for all of us, yet we know it will all be worth it in the end.”
For more information on the conference, please visit: www.hpair.org.
