Make Hong Kong “Asia’s Geneva”, HKPC Watch and Clock Industry Study Says

Despite Hong Kong being the world’s second largest watch and clock exporter, the industry is facing fierce competition in recent years. To help the local watch and clock industry grasp market and technology development opportunities, the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) has conducted a study on the sustainable development of the industry. Releasing the findings at the “Hong Kong Watch and Clock Industry Forum” today (23 April 2018), HKPC proposes to position Hong Kong as “Asia’s Geneva” and develop the mid-to-high-range market while identifying four strategies and six recommendations to boost industry competiveness.

Ms Annie Choi, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR Government, was the guest-of-honour at the Forum, accompanied by Mr Mohamed D. Butt, Executive Director of HKPC. Other guests included Mr Bob Chong, Chairman of the Management Committee of the Hong Kong Watch and Clock Technology Centre (HKWCTC); Mr Enders Lam, President of the Hong Kong Watch Manufacturers Association (HKWMA); and Mr Harold Sun, Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades and Industries (FHKWTI).

Mr Butt said, “In recent years, the global watch and clock market has been slowing down. Also, smart products are affecting the watch and clock industry. Hence, it is necessary to re-evaluate the positioning of the Hong Kong watch and clock industry and to develop a sustainable development strategy for the industry.”

Commissioned by FHKWTI and HKWMA, HKPC’s “Watch Out, Hong Kong! A Study of the Sustainable Development of the Watch and Clock Industry of Hong Kong” reviewed the global watch and clock market trends and assessed the competitiveness of the local timepiece industry through industry analysis and interviews with key stakeholders, in order to produce a development blueprint for the industry. The Study found that while the Hong Kong watch and clock industry boosts a mature and well-established supply chain and its products are renowned for their high quality-to-price ratio, its manufacturing technology R&D and e-commerce are relatively late-starters. It is also without quality certification and a well-structured talent development system.

The Study identifies four key strategies - Quality Enhancement, Brand Building, Product Innovation and Talent Development, to strengthen the competitiveness of the local watch and clock industry. It also proposes six recommendations, namely an impartial central laboratory benchmarking against Swiss certification bodies; a Design Recognition Scheme to promote made-by-Hong Kong watches in the mid-to-high-range market; promotion of “Industry 4.0” strategy to realize mass customization; a Hong Kong Smart Wearables Consortium for cross-industry collaboration; a Hong Kong Horology R&D Centre for diversified product development; and a Hong Kong Watch and Clock Academy for systematic talent development.

The forum today also featured the presentation of a chronometer test certificate to a local watch manufacturer which, with the assistance of HKPC, became the first Hong Kong company to have its mechanical watch movement passed the test at HKWCTC.

To download the Study, please visit http://u.hkpc.org/watch-out-hk.

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David Pun
Senior Manager
Corporate Development
Tel: (852) 2788 5045
Fax: (852) 2788 5056
Email: davidpun@hkpc.org
Website: www.hkpc.org

23 April 2018

Witnessed by Ms Annie Choi, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology (middle) and Mr Bob Chong, Chairman of Management Committee of the Hong Kong Watch and Clock Technology Centre (1st from left), Mr Mohamed D. Butt, Executive Director of HKPC (1st from right), presents the “Watch out, Hong Kong! A study on the Sustainable Development of the Watch and Clock Industry of Hong Kong” to Mr Enders Lam, President of the Hong Kong Watch Manufacturers Association (2nd from left); and Mr Harold Sun, Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Watch Trades and Industries.

(From left to right) Mr Wilson Wong, General Manager (Information and Technology) of HKPC, discusses with Ms Esther Wong, President and Founder of Acestar Concept Limited, Mr William Sham, Founder and CEO of Memorigin Watch Company Limited, Mr Philip Wong, Vice President of Technical, Swissam Products Limited, and Mr Quinn Lai, Founder of Eoniq, on the novel ways for the watch and clock industry to address market and economic challenges.

“Watch out, Hong Kong! A study on the Sustainable Development of the Watch and Clock Industry of Hong Kong” identifies four key strategies and proposes six recommendations to strengthen the competitiveness of the local watch and clock industry.