ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING REPORT

The Chapter's AGM took place at the Conrad Hotel on 17th June. Chapter President, Richard Myers, delivered his report for the year, outlining the successes of the Chapter and in particular the diversity and quality of events held locally.

Richard stated that this had been a better first half of the year for the Hong Kong community when compared to the same period in 2003. He said that the economy was showing signs of a recovery and business sentiment was improving. However it was evident that companies were still very conscious of keeping a grip on expenditure and controlling costs. The Chapter though had a healthy fiscal state and has achieved progress in key areas.

He went on to say that even with the changes instigated by Houston, with the option for members to opt out of Chapter membership, the Chapter's overall membership remains strong. As at May this year the record showed that there were 188 Chapter Members and 35 Non-Chapter Members, which brought the total to 223 Members. Richard encouraged Non Members and Non-Chapter Members to become Chapter Members and benefit from what the Hong Kong Chapter provides.

The Chapter organized a number of education series throughout the last 12 months including the very well received finance for facility managers course, and Mr. Myers indicated that an intermediate course was under planning. Also planned was another series in our 'Introduction to Facility Management'. Other activities, such as the site visits to Two IFC and Science Park were well attended.

Coupled with this was the very successful November 2003 Conference which some 169 delegates and international speakers from as far away as the UK, France and Australia attended.

Richard was pleased to announce that the number of CFM's had increased by some 50% in the last year. There are now 67 CFM's. He put this increase down to the CFM workshop held last year and the drive of many facility managers to obtain this global standard for recognizing facilities professionals.

The President mentioned that the Chapter continues to develop its web-page and has streamlined the updating process by outsourcing this element of work. Further, the Chapter is receiving sponsorship through advertising spaces available. The President also mentioned that the NewsLetter continues to be a mainstay for disseminating facts and figures to its membership. 'Sharing our experiences and knowledge' he said, 'helps us all'.

For the first time the Chapter had supported the Asian Building Technologies Expo, which was held in June this year. As part of our agreement with the organizer the Chapter received a booth to promote membership, which gave it greater regional exposure.

All in all, the President concluded, this had been a good year and the Board extended its thanks to its membership for their continued support.