BCBusiness

SOURCE: BC StAtS SEptEmBER 2018 BCBusiness 35 Vancouver. Both cities stand on a vast harbour with a moun- tain backdrop. Hong Kong even has its own North Shore— somewhat more crowded Kowloon—accessible on the weather-beaten Star Ferry, the local version of the SeaBus. "When I irst arrived in Hong Kong, I looked around and I thought, Oh my God, this feels like home," recalls Vancouver native Chris Baker, managing director of Totem Media, a Hong Kong–based social media solutions irm that helps companies includ- ing Walt Disney Co. with mar- keting and branding in China. "Within about a year, I had unearthed a dozen friends from my high school who were also living here," says Baker, who recently relocated his family to his hometown. "The connections between the two cities are really powerful." In a 2011 survey, Vancouver- based think tank the Asia Paci'c Foundation of Canada estimated that Hong Kong was home to about 300,000 Canadian citizens, more than 65 percent of them born in the territory. Hong Kong is Cana- da's top overseas passport issuing o–ce by far, according to the Canadian consulate general, dispensing some 30,000 of the documents each year. This is my 'rst visit to Hong Kong since 2010, and I notice that the Chinese —ag is now inescapable. With its 've gold stars, the red emblem of the People's Republic of China —ies everywhere, alongside its Hong Kong counterpart, which features a white orchid on a red 'eld. David Armitage, who moved to Hong Kong in 1995, has watched China consoli- date its hold after the 1997 handover by one-time colonial master Britain. Until 2047, under "one country, two systems," it's ostensibly business as usual for Hong Kong and Macau. BCBusiness irst inter- viewed Armitage, the North Vancouver– raised president of IT services 'rm Velocity Solutions, a decade ago. What's changed? "The biggest shift is that China is now clearly in charge," the perennially blunt Armitage says over schnitzel on a res- taurant patio near his Wan Chai of ice. "They've been doing a fairly good job of keeping their hands o¡, despite what you hear," he asserts. "There's an awful lot of aggressive anti-China rhetoric that plays well in the international press." For Armitage, who has a cabin on Salt Spring Island, Hong Kong still presents the same opportunity. "Tell me what's di¡er- ent," he asks, having just praised the young members of the local democracy move- ment. "I don't get to vote?" Velocity now has about 110 employees across its group; most of its business is in Hong Kong and outside China, in Asia, North America and Europe. "I'm more interested in what is going on in the Paci'c Rim as a whole," Armitage says, citing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, whose fast-growing members include Indonesia, the Philip- pines, Singapore and Thailand. When it comes to those markets, his home base compares favourably with archrival Singapore, he contends: "Hong Kong is, I think, as well placed and in some ways better placed for accessing ASEAN." Armitage gives the local government's tech push mixed reviews. "They're try- ing real hard to promote innovation," he says of Cyberport, lamenting Hong Kong's shortage of skilled computer programmers, which he attributes to a cultural bias against careers in IT. "We'll see if this changes, if a little bit of funding will make a di¡erence." A FISH TALE Back in Vancouver, I stop by Fishermen's Wharf near Granville Island to see Steve Johansen. At the picnic table outside his warehouse, next to a bin of 'sh on ice, the co-founder of Organic Ocean Seafood tells his Hong Kong success story. In 2013, Johansen got a message from Gray Kunz, chef at Café Gray Deluxe in Hong Kong's swish Upper House hotel. After Johansen had a friend bring him a box of frozen spot prawns, Kunz wanted to order more seafood, but it was impossible without a distributor. Two years later, the Swiss-born chef put Johansen in touch with Cristian Giancaterino, proprietor of the House of Fine Foods in Hong Kong. "They go after our kind of clients, and that's the higher- end hotels, restaurants and the kind of chefs that appreciate what we have to o¡er," says the unassuming 'sherman, who sports a knapsack and white sunglasses. The timing was good, too, Johansen notes, given Asia's growing interest in sus- tainability. Also, most chefs at the Hong Kong establishments that Organic Ocean deals with are from North America, Europe and Australia. "They know what sustainable stu¡ is, but they have a hard time getting it," Johansen says. "That's where we come in." Today, House of Fine Foods supplies chefs in Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore with Organic Ocean black cod and what- ever's in season: halibut, wild salmon, lingcod. Some product is frozen at sea, but Lumber exceeding 6 mm in thickness Transmission apparatus for radio- telephony, radio-telegraphy, etc. Molluscs, live, fresh, chilled, frozen, dried, salted or in brine Parts for electric motors, generators, generating sets and rotary converters Chemical wood pulp, soda or sulphate, other than dissolving grades $20.8 $18.4 $14.6 $14.3 $13.3 9% 8% 7% 6% 6% VaLue ($ MiLLions) sHaRe of ToTaL Outward Bound Top five B.C.-origin exports to Hong Kong in 2017

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