Link REIT CEO Named Hong Kong Business Person of the Year

While the mainland dreams of a shift to a service economy, Hong Kong appears happy to focus on real estate as two of the top awards for business personalities in the Asian financial hub went to leaders of real estate firms.

George Hongchoy, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Link Asset Management Limited, which manages Asia’s largest real estate investment trust, Link REIT, was named Business Person of the Year at the Hong Kong Business Awards 2015.

Also recognised at the event on December 3^rd was the chief executive of developer Hongkong Land Holdings Limited, Y K Pang, who received the Executive Award for making an outstanding managerial contribution to the financial success and reputation of a Hong Kong registered company.

We have truly come a long way as a company over the past decade, and I am confident the best is yet to come,” Hongchoy said upon receiving the award, which is given annually to top company leaders who make a positive contribution to the further development of Hong Kong and have a strong track record in community service and corporate social responsibility.

In a statement, the Link REIT said that Hongchoy’s Business Person of the Year Award was due to his successful transformation of the organisation “into a premier global REIT industry player” as well as for contributing to the growth of Hong Kong’s REIT industry.

In 2015 Link REIT significantly expanded its operating territory by purchasing its first ever assets in mainland China; first buying a Beijing mall in March for RMB2.5 billion, and later setting new records in the Shanghai market by picking up Shui On Land’s Corporate Avenue phase one for RMB 6.6 billion ($1.063 billion).

Since 1990, the Hong Kong Business Awards 2015, which are organised by the South China Morning Post and express delivery service DHL, have recognised the contributions of individual executives to the development of commerce in Hong Kong. The awards pick out performances that have expanded the economic viability and international stature of Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta.