Hong Kong Association of Atlanta (HKAA) organized a roadshow for the HKETO NY and HKTDC NY. The purposes of the visit to Atlanta included:
- Director Maisie Ho (HKETO NY) presentation and discussions on Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area
- International Meet and Greet to solidify HKAA as the expert on all Asian affairs and business
- Meetings with seniors of the Atlanta Fintech ecosystem to seek cooperation, and to encourage local fintech firms to visit Hong Kong to attend AFF and Hong Kong Fintech Week
- Meetings with targeted local chambers (Cobb Chamber and Partnership Gwinnett and Metro Atlanta Chamber)
June 24, 2025:
International Meet and Greet: HKAA hosted the Meet & Greet for our Director Ho of HKETO NY to update the development of Hong Kong and GBA to over 20 VIPs at the law firm of Smith, Gambrell & Russell, a corporate member of HKAA. The get together was for 90 minutes. But the guests were asking many questions on opportunities in Hong Kong and the GBA. It was so obvious that they would like to have similar events in the future and to have at least 2 hours for the updates. The VIP guests loved the Hong Kong pastries (Dan Tart and Pineapple Bun).
Attendees included Japan Consul General, German Senior Economic Officer, Brazil Consul, Slovakia CG, Hungary CG, French Chamber Board Member, Japan Chamber of Commerce Chairman, President and Treasurer of Philippine Chamber of Commerce, Board Member of Georgia Vietnamese Chamber, Korean Chamber VP, President of Southeast Korean Chamber, Federation of Minority Enterprises Chair, World Affairs Council of Atlanta President, Invest Atlanta SVP, Atlanta Committee on International Relations President. William Leung, Ho’s Deputy, and HKAA Board members (President Yu, Gene Hanratty, Denise Lo and Michael Chen) also attended the event.
Takeaways: The international business and community leaders have shown overwhelming interests in Hong Kong/GBA/China. Semiannual updates/visits from HKETO NY to the VIPs/International groups are highly recommended. Topics of interests included the Hong Kong Talent Program, Fintech delegation visits to HK upcoming December Hong Kong Forum, e-sports and gaming, FDI inbound and outbound, and take advantage of Hong Kong as a bridge to doing business in China/Asia.
Visits to Partnership Gwinnett and Cobb Chamber (June 24/25)
On June 24, Director Ho, William Leung and Henry Yu met with SVP/Senior Directors to learn more about cooperation opportunities with these preferred partners. We discussed various verticals and exchange views on how we can work together to benefit their members and firms interested in Hong Kong/China/Asia. Opportunities exist in FinTech, biotech/bio pharma/healthcare, innovation and technology, logistics and trade, and cross referrals. Follow-up visits/meetings to include hosting small seminars (30-40 people) by HKETO NY and HKAA with the two partners.
On June 25, Henry Yu and Horasis Lung, Marketing Manager of HKTDC NY also attended a Logistics Reception hosted by the Netherland Chamber and Cobb Chamber. Great networking as we identified a few follow-up meetings to firms interested in Hong Kong (attending our Hong Kong Forum for some business, networking and sight-seeing).
June 25, 2025 Breakfast event at the Metro Atlanta Chamber (MAC)
HKAA and Metro Atlanta Chamber jointly hosted and organized a breakfast meeting with the theme of “Navigating a Dynamic Asian Market”. Over 85 people (and an additional 5-7 virtual attendees from Southern California, Michigan, Texas and NYC) attended the full house at MAC, our HKAA special partner. Turkish Airlines was our Sponsor and Supporting Organizations included Cobb Chamber, Partnership Gwinnett, National U.S. Hong Kong Business Association, HKETO NY, and HKTDC NY. Unlike past events and to differentiate and to continue making improvements, we decided to have more time for Q&A (45 minutes). We also recruited more VIP experts (4 of them) in various industries to join us in addition to the Panel discussion (speakers/panelists).
HKETO NY Director Ho gave us a high-level update on the Hong Kong economy and business climate as well as brief comment on the Greater Bay Area. In particular, Maisie addressed the role of Hong Kong in bridging Asian and global business. The panel discussion was moderated by Warren Clark, Partner at Grant Thornton, a top CPA firm. Distinguished speakers included Zaheer Faruqi, CEO of Aventure Aviation (exports of aircraft parts to Emerging Markets), Sean Flaherty, Vice President, Strategy and Marketing, UPS Supply Chain Solutions, and Kiyo Kojima, Partner at Smith, Gambrell & Russell, a top law firm. During our 45-minute Q&A session, we tapped into the expertise of the four Experts-Susan Kintanar, Regional Director of Exim Bank, David Newsome, CEO of Lightspeed Business Solutions (David was formerly Director of Sourcing of NAPA Auto Parts, a U.S. listed $20B annual sales Genuine Parts Company), Carlos Vianna, Senior Manager at CommScope (telecom firms with substantial business in Asia and Latam), and Horasis Lung, Marketing Manager of the HKTDC NY (logistics, trade, and finance and fintech).
Discussions and Q&A covered the following issues:
- How are tariffs affecting your foreign customers, particularly in Asia, and how are you responding?
- How is the current economic and political environment affecting your clients, especially those from Asia and Asian firms operating in the U.S.?
- What advice can you give to companies that want to de-risk their supply chain?
- Who are paying the costs of tariffs?
- Are companies experiencing higher costs (financing cost, logistics cost etc.) associated with rising tariffs? What are their short-term and medium-term strategies in dealing with such disruption?
- What kind of resources are available to mitigate the increased risks associated with Supply Chain changes?
The interactive discussion was quite overwhelming as the audience were very interested in tariffs and in a growing Asian market with ample opportunities. People were very relaxed and enjoyed the networking as well as our breakfast items (one of them is the Hong Kong Pineapple Bun). Feedback from the audience were very favorable and encouraging. Quite a few people asked us about the next Hong Kong/Asian business event. Not only did we pick up a new sponsor in Turkish Airlines, at least 10 professionals are interested in our HKAA (Dec 2/3, 2025 Hong Kong Forum) and requested follow-up meetings with us. As NUSHKBA was one of the Supporting Organizations, we have 7 virtual attendees from the chapters in Southern California, New York, Texas and even Michigan. In a way it is also good exposure for our sister chapters, and Hong Kong. HKAA is proud to share our program and resources with other chapters.
June 25/26, 2025 Fintech meetings:
In conjunction with Horasis Lung’s visit to Atlanta attending our Une 25th breakfast, HKAA used this great opportunity to introduce Horasis Lung of HKTDC NY to the seniors of the Atlanta Fintech Ecosystem. Catherine Zhang, FVP of Morgan Stanley and HKAA Board Member and our Fintech Champion also joined Horasis and Henry Yu in meeting with the following who’s who of our ecosystem:
- Tommy Marshall, Senior Advisor, Sirius AI (he spearheaded the Georgia Fintech Academy in 2019 and was the founding Executive Director)
- Laura Lamothe, Executive Director, Georgia Fintech Academy (former banker of 15 plus years)
- Ania Lackey, Executive Director, Fintech Atlanta (formerly head of Atlanta Tech Village)
- Brian Holloway, Chair of Fintech Society of the Technology Association of Georgia, Partner at the CPA firm of Frazier & Deeter.
- Mike Morris, Chair of International Business Board at TAG cannot meet with us due to last minute family issues, Mike is also Partner at Wipfli LLP
The meetings went extremely well as this is long overdue. HKAA had done quite a few fintech events prior to Covid and this is time our us to get back into it. The seniors gave us a rundown of opportunities in Atlanta, which is very payment focused as Atlanta handles over 70% of all U.S. payments through the Atlanta firms. Fintech in Atlanta is a $25Billion plus industry and is one of 3 major fintech hubs (San Francisco and NYC) in the U.S. Time was spent discussing our Asian Financial Forum and the Hong Kong Fintech Week. The seniors mentioned that AFF is probably more appealing to banks, fintech and service providers. The seniors agreed that it is time for Atlanta to start thinking about AFF in Hong Kong to create exposure and potential business opportunities for the Atlanta fintech ecosystem. We suggested having an “Atlanta Booth” in the January 2026 AFF. Horasis will follow up with the seniors, coupled with the assistance of Catherine and HKAA. Hope we can convince these seniors to take an Atlanta delegation visit to 2026 AFF in Hong Kong. HKAA will also work with Horasis on our planned 2026 Fintech Forum in Atlanta, resuming our connecting fintech Atlanta to fintech Hong Kong.
HKAA is very pleased to be the connector creating exposure for both HKETO NY, HKTDC NY and to promote Hong Kong/GBA during the June 24-26 visit/roadshow to Atlanta. 12 HKAA Board members (6 of them are our Core Team) also found the opportunity to get to know Maisie Ho, Horasis Lung and our Hong Kong family.
Write-up provided by Henry Yu, President, Hong Kong Association of Atlanta (HKAA), June 30, 2025