“Last year my employees helped raising some money for a social project. That was a very satisfying experience for all of us.” – how even a small company can contribute and why European legislation is important for Hong Kong entrepreneurs.

Raymond Lo, CEO, Samond Traders Holding Ltd., Hong Kong, P. R. China

“Nowadays large corporate clients, especially those from the EU, require manufacturers to meet certain environmental standards or guidelines. Being an environmentally conscious supplier definitely gives us the competitive edge. We constantly monitor new developments in product safety and environmental standards in our export markets.” – Raymond explained to us the straight forward chain of reasons. It was very interesting to hear from a small company that started operations just 5 years ago, how they try to integrate socially and environmentally responsible behaviour in many small steps in all the different areas of doing business. “Often it is not big money that is needed to operate socially and environmentally friendly,” Raymond insisted, when we asked him if it wouldn’t be too expensive for his small company to behave in this way. As he said “Many people lack the will to act in an ethical way and use money as an easy and respected excuse.”

Let us share Raymond Lo’s thoughts in a few selected quotations below and you may be able to read more about the development his activities and his company in our book “MyImpact”.

Raymond Lo’s selected quotations:
“In Chinese terms, my company is small with around 60 employees. At the moment I would like to keep this small size to avoid being squeezed by price competition and to keep up flexibility. I want to be able to provide good working conditions to my employees and good quality to our customers.”

“A lot of our social and environmental chances were induced by the requirements of our European customers.”

“Lately I was trying to find out more about corporate social responsibility. I don’t think just being compliance with the regulations is enough.”

“We are too young and too small for broad social engagements or programs. But we do donate a little, volunteer a little and encourage employees to do the same. If there is something small you can do – why not?”

“Even small things will add up over time. As an office operation, we have put much effort in energy saving and waste reduction. We divide office lighting into different zones, use energy saving bulbs and fluorescent tubes. We also reuse and recycle things whenever possible. We encourage communicating with suppliers and clients via email instead of faxes.”

“Despite our small number of employees, we are still able to provide internships for young people from the Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme. In addition, our employees volunteer at the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and other social projects.”

“With the implementation of CSR, we can differentiate ourselves from competitors by being responsible, caring, and environmentally friendly. We also benefit from cost savings with high efficiency, good team spirit and morale and because we are a small company, it is much easier to motivate colleagues and for everybody to notice the benefits.”

“If you donate just a little bit, it’s not like you loose much. And, you are lucky to be in a position to be able to donate.”

“I am looking forward to more markets asking for the same environmental standards as the Europeans do now.”

Raymond Lo’s background:
Raymond Lo was born in Hong Kong and did not leave the busy town except for holidays. His extensive experience in the watch industry helped him to learn about running a factory, about newest technology and about customer relations. With this foundation, he established Samond Traders Holding Ltd. in 2000 together with his partner. Today, he is a satisfied and successful owner of a medium-sized company.

Some background on Samond Traders Holding Ltd.:
Samond Traders Holding Ltd was first established in 2000. The company designs, manufactures and distributes watches and a variety of gift & premium items to Europe and the USA. It is a small enterprise with only 5 employees in Hong Kong and a manufacturing site in Mainland China.
It has been awarded the Caring Company logo of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service for three years and has received the Emerald Award of the HSBC’s Living Business initiative.

If you would like to engage with the work Raymond Lo or get to know more about Samond Traders Holding Ltd. please visit www.samond.hk,
or, for more specific opportunities, contact joanna.stefanska@myimpact.ch or wolfgang.hafenmayer@myimpact.ch directly.