Placement report
The European Chamber of
Commerce in Hong Kong
Hugo Groenewold S2556804
MA International Relations: East Asian Studies Placement Report
The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong 15/07/2019 – 01/11/2019
B.L. Aardema 28/11/2019
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction ... 2
2. Preparing for the placement ... 3
3. Arrival in Hong Kong ... 6
4. The placement: experiences and learning processes ... 8
5. Connection with IR degree and future career orientation ... 14
6. Conclusion ... 17
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1. Introduction
From 15 July 2019 until 1 November 2019, I was an intern at The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (EuroCham). This placement report will discuss my experiences at EuroCham. Firstly, I will touch upon the initial phase of finding and preparing for the placement. Secondly, my arrival in Hong Kong and living conditions will be explored. Thirdly, a short description of EuroCham and my tasks will be provided, after which I will reflect upon my personal activities, expectations, and experiences. Finally, I will examine the relevance of the placement for the degree programme, the role of the placement for a future career, and the things to consider for potential future placement students.
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2. Preparing for the placement
One of the major reasons for me to pursue a Master in International Relations at the University of Groningen was the compulsory internship. I have always felt like I was lacking some practical experience, so this was a perfect opportunity to gain work experience alongside a Master's degree. Even when I found out that a placement was not compulsory for my track East Asian Studies, I decided to do one anyway.
Initially, I started looking for a placement through the channels of the University of Groningen as early as November 2018. New placement vacancies were published frequently on the Nestor site. Based on that, I did some more research into different organizations, institutions, and companies that seemed interesting to me. In the end, what seemed most interesting to me was interning for a Dutch embassy or consulate-general. For the East Asian track, the placement obviously needs to revolve around this region, so for me it made most sense to look for embassies and consulates based in East Asia.
Finally, I found an interesting placement at the Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Shanghai which was supposed to start in February 2019. I applied by sending my CV and a cover letter, but unfortunately, I got rejected. At this point, I was already heavily debating whether or not I wanted to start a placement in February as I also had to write my thesis in that semester. Most placements that I found interesting were for a period of six months and this meant that I would have to write my thesis simultaneously in order to graduate before the end of the year. I realized that I did not want to put that pressure on myself and decided to postpone looking for a placement and focus on writing my thesis first. I had accepted that I would have to prolong my studies for a few months in order to graduate.
About a month after I started writing my thesis, I was looking for a placement again. My aim was to find one for the period of September 2019 onwards. Again, I was looking for opportunities at embassies and consulates, but I widened my search because I wanted to make sure to find a placement and did not want to be too picky. At one point I stumbled across the internship vacancy on the website of The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. They were looking for an intern for three to six months, who could start from August/September 2019. This vacancy seemed perfect to me as it combined my current focus on East Asian affairs with my previous academic focus on Europe from when I was studying the European Languages and Cultures bachelor.
4 I wrote a motivational letter and sent them my CV. Within a week or two I received a reply that they had reviewed my application and invited me for a Skype interview. I prepared for the interview and had it a week later with Núria Sau, the Assistant Manager at EuroCham, who later on became my supervisor as well. She got back to me a week after the interview and told me that EuroCham wanted to have me as their intern. I officially accepted the offer and from there we started preparing for my arrival.
These preparations mainly involved applying for a visa and finding accommodation. For the visa, I had to fill out several documents and provide EuroCham with some personal information. After everything was in order and confirmed by EuroCham, I had to send all the documents by post mail and they applied for my training visa in Hong Kong. I was granted the visa around four weeks after the application. During this process, the EuroCham office was really helpful and responsive when I had questions regarding the application.
I already started looking for a place to live early on. Some people recommend to look for permanent accommodation after you arrive in the city, but from personal experience, I knew this could be quite stressful, so I decided to find something before. EuroCham recommended some trustworthy agents and I reached out to several of them. I was quite happy that EuroCham was able to recommend these agents, so I could look for a room without the risk of getting scammed. Several of the agents replied with some options, but all of them were tiny and the common areas looked pretty poor. I realized I could not expect a lot because Hong Kong is really expensive, so ultimately I went with a room in a shared flat that looked decent.
Looking for housing made me realize how expensive living in Hong Kong was going to be, so I decided to look for some scholarships. Of course, I applied for the Marco Polo grant, but I found two more scholarships for which I was eligible: the Groninger University Fund and the Holland Scholarship. These scholarships are not automatically granted, so I had to motivate my applications. I was able to get both scholarships and this helped me greatly to pay for my living expenses in Hong Kong.
Lastly, I prepared for my placement by looking at the actual tasks I was going to be working on. The main task was the coordination of EuroCham’s participation at the Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF). I started reading into what MIF exactly was and what was done at the fair in previous years. Besides this task, I would assist EuroCham’s Business Councils, so I started researching about their activities as well.
5 This preparation shaped my expectations before the start of the placement. I thought that EuroCham would have a booth at the MIF and I that I would have had to organize and coordinate EuroCham’s activities at the fair and the booth. Moreover, I expected that I had to be present at the Business Councils’ meetings, write the minutes and assist them with research. These expectations were partly met, but some tasks turned out to be quite different. Before going into this, I would like to discuss my arrival in Hong Kong and my personal experience living in this city.
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3. Arrival in Hong Kong
I arrived in Hong Kong on the morning of 5 June 2019. The first thing I noticed was the ease of getting around. It only took me an hour to get from the airport to my flat and it was surprisingly cheap as well. Before I got to the apartment, my landlord had sent me some information on how to get in. My first impression of the house and my room was that it was a bit smaller than I expected it to be and it was quite stuffy because of the humidity. The utilities were also quite poor, I did not even have a kitchen for example. I felt a bit disillusioned because of this, but luckily I quickly met all of my amazing flatmates and I ended up having the best time in that place.
What I learned from this was that for me personally, it is best to live with other people when you start living in a new place. As long as there are good people around, the place matters less. I had debated before whether or not I should get my own place in Hong Kong, but decided against it when I saw the prices. Looking back on it, I am happy it turned out like that.
After my first days exploring Hong Kong, I had arranged to meet up at the EuroCham office to collect my visa and discuss my upcoming role at the office. I met with Núria Sau at the EuroCham office in Central, which is an area only twenty minutes by MTR from where I lived (Causeway Bay). It is very centrally located and easy to get to. I was surprised that the office was actually smaller than I expected and there were no colleagues present except for Núria. She explained that EuroCham was in a transition period and that the General Manager was in Europe at the moment. The EuroCham office thus only had two permanent employees besides the sixteen board members and all the members of the six business councils. Núria was very welcoming and immediately gave me a good impression of the work environment. It was very informal, but I was also told that they expected me to do a lot of work as well.
We talked about what my upcoming tasks would be and Núria gave me some documents about MIF and previous minutes of several business councils to study at home. Moreover, she gave me a letter which I needed to bring to the Immigration Tower to collect my visa. Indeed, I arrived in Hong Kong on a tourist visa. This is actually common practice for interns. Often they will arrive on a tourist visa, collect their training visa from the Immigration Tower and then go to Macao or Shenzhen and return to Hong Kong on their training visa. This is a bit of a hassle, but it is the only way to do it if you do not physically have your training visa before going to Hong Kong.
7 Regarding the cost of living, Hong Kong is really expensive. The biggest expense is housing. Food can be cheap, but that only goes for really local Chinese places. I lived on Hong Kong Island, where it is more difficult to find these places than for example in Kowloon. Moreover, there was no kitchen in my house, so I was destined to eat out a lot. Therefore, I ended up spending quite a lot of money on food. Another big expense for me was related to social activities. As I lived in a very social house with many flatmates there was always something going on. On the other hand, Hong Kong can be relatively cheap in some other areas like public transport. It is not only easy to get around the city, but it is also really cheap. All in all though, Hong Kong is an expensive place to live and I was very lucky to get the scholarships, otherwise I would not have been able to afford my stay there.
Before reflecting upon the actual placement and my experiences as an intern for EuroCham, I would like to discuss the political unrest in Hong Kong during my stay. Already before I arrived in Hong Kong, protests had started over the proposed Extradition Bill. I followed the developments with much interest but never expected them to last for the full duration of my stay. When I arrived, my flatmates told me the protests were often held on the weekends and passed by our street quite often. I lived in Percival Street, which branches off from Hennessy Road, one of the main roads where the protestors pass by. It was thus important to know beforehand if there were going to be protests because at times it could be troublesome to get home.
Initially, the protests were peaceful and it was easy to get around them, but as time got by it rapidly got more violent. It was not uncommon to come home to blockades and tear gas on the weekends. Nonetheless, I have never felt unsafe in Hong Kong, not even when these protests were happening in my street. As an outsider, it was easy to not get involved and be more of a spectator. At times they made it difficult to get around and live a normal life – public transport, restaurants, and supermarkets would be closed. Most of the times though, it was possible to plan your day around the protests.
To me, it was really interesting living in Hong Kong during this period. I felt like watching a part of history unfold seeing the protests evolve into what they are now. I have always considered myself a spectator and never engaged in the protests. Although the protestors’ cause resonates with my ideals, I believe that this is a struggle that does not concern me or any expat that is living in Hong Kong for a short period of time.
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4. The placement: experiences and learning processes
On Monday 15 July, I went to EuroCham’s office for the start of my placement. It is important to understand what kind of organization EuroCham exactly is and how it operates before going into my tasks.
EuroCham is a not-for-profit organization and dubbed as a ‘Chamber of Chambers’. This means that EuroCham is not an ordinary Chamber of Commerce with corporate members, rather EuroCham’s members consist of national European Chambers, like the Dutch Chamber and the German Chamber. All of the seventeen member Chambers provide one representative to the board of EuroCham. EuroCham works closely with its members to ensure a healthy and strong business climate for European businesses. To this end, EuroCham has three key objectives1:
• Providing a European forum to exchange information, discuss common challenges businesses are facing, and publish position papers to put forward our recommendations. • Promoting commercial, industrial, financial, scientific, and other economic exchange
between Europe, Hong Kong, Macau, and the Greater Bay Area.
• Hosting functions that allow members to network with stakeholders from Europe, Hong Kong, Macau, and the Greater Bay Area, including hosting of officials from the European Union (EU).
Although EuroCham has received EU funding in the past and continues to work closely with the EU’s Hong Kong office, it should be noted that EuroCham is not part of the European Union.
Another important part of EuroCham’s structure is the Business Councils (BCs). EuroCham has six Business Councils2:
• European Automotive Council (EAC);
• Environment and Energy Business Council (EEBC); • Financial Services Business Council (FSBC);
• Information, Communication, and Technology Business Council (ICTBC); • Intellectual Property Rights Business Council (IPRBC);
1 “ABOUT EUROCHAM,” The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, accessed November 27, 2019,
https://www.eurocham.com.hk/about-eurocham.
2 “EUROCHAM BUSINESS COUNCILS,” The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, accessed
9 • Wine and Spirits Business Council (WSBC).
Each Business Council has a unique objective, but in general, the BCs bring together European experts in their respective fields to address and discuss common challenges and concerns, to engage (government) stakeholders, and publish proposals and position papers.
As has been explained before, a big part of my job would be to support these Business Councils and organize the MIF. However, the first day I arrived at EuroCham’s office, Núria updated me about some things that had happened. At that point, EuroCham had been in a transition period. The previous General Manager had been let go by EuroCham’s board and Núria was going to take over that position. This meant that at the beginning of August, Núria would have to go back to Europe and wait for her new visa to be approved. As she was currently the only employee at the office, I was going to have to take over some of her responsibilities while she would keep working from Europe. I found this exciting because it meant I would be able to take on a big responsibility. At the same time, it was also a bit scary because I had no idea what to do at that point, but Núria assured me that several board members would be around at the office to help me out with my tasks.
These tasks had also changed slightly. Instead of coordinating and organizing MIF, I would have to take on Eco Expo Asia. This is also an international trade fair, but it is organized in Hong Kong and focuses on the environmental protection industry specifically. EuroCham organized this on request of the EEBC, so I was also going to have a big role in supporting and working with the EEBC. My other tasks were still the same and Núria explained to me about the individual Business Councils and the administrative processes. One last change was that I would have to stay a week longer than expected, because the Eco Expo took place from 30 October to 2 November. Initially, I would have stayed on until 25 October, but now I was going to stay until 1 November (the full length of my visa), so I could be there for most of the Eco Expo.
So, my initial expectation that I would have to organize a booth at the MIF, but this turned out quite different. Instead, Eco Expo became my project and it was my main task during the placement. The organization of Eco Expo was also not like my expectation. EuroCham actually had a complete pavilion of 90m2 at the Eco Expo and it was my task to find companies that were interested in exhibiting under the banner of EuroCham. My role in this regard was to be a mediator between the organizer of the Eco Expo and the companies that were going to exhibit with EuroCham. Núria gave me files from previous years when EuroCham was at Eco Expo
10 and I used those to start this project. I reached out to the exhibitors of previous years to see if they were interested and I went through several other channels, like the national member Chambers, to find new interested companies. During this period, I also had to liaise with the organizer of the fair about the construction and design of our pavilion, business matching opportunities for our exhibitors, promotional material, speaking opportunities, and other special requests our exhibitors had. I was thus in constant contact with both the organizer and the exhibitors and had to communicate a lot with all parties. Moreover, I was partly responsible for budgeting, but Núria helped me out with this.
I found it really hard to find interested exhibitors and brought this up several times with Núria and the EEBC. The EEBC gave some valuable tips and told me to reach out to some companies they knew and Núria was always supportive and answered all of my questions. She would also always be present in meetings we would have with the organizer and she made sure everything was going in the right direction. Even though Núria and the EEBC were helpful and supportive, when time passed, it became clear that we were not going to be able to fill up a 90m2 pavilion. It was an ambitious plan to begin with, as the year before there was only a 70m2 pavilion, but especially now that Hong Kong was undergoing political turmoil, it was difficult to find interested businesses. This meant that we had to downsize and renegotiate our contract with the organizer. Eventually, Núria and I came to an agreement with the organizer to have a 63m2 pavilion. With support from Núria and some other involved parties, I managed to find seven interested exhibitors who filled up the complete pavilion. The EEBC was content that the Eco Expo was still happening even though it was a difficult period in Hong Kong. When the Eco Expo actually took place, I was present at all times to help our exhibitors out with any requests they had. During the fair, everything went rather smoothly and no major problems arose. For me, the most difficult part of being the project coordinator for the Eco Expo was working together with the organizer. We had a contract with them and they expressed their wish to have a big European Pavilion, as they wanted to have a big international presence. On the one hand, they constantly reassured me that they wanted to help us to get as many exhibitors as we could, but on the other hand, I quickly learned that they were also recruiting European companies on the side. This meant that they were competing with me and this was really hard to deal with as I did not have a lot of things to offer to European companies. Eventually, I believe that the fact of joint participation and relatively cheap exhibition prices convinced the companies to exhibit with us. Another part that was sometimes hard to deal with was communication. It was not particularly difficult, but there were many different things that I had to think of and
11 communicate clearly to all parties. It was a bit overwhelming, especially closer to the start of Eco Expo, but eventually, everyone was well informed and that is part of why the Expo itself went rather smoothly.
All in all, I look back on this project as a success, especially considering that it was my first project as a coordinator and I had limited supervision. On the one hand, I was glad that I had the opportunity to take the lead in this project. I was given a lot of responsibility and it learned me to be assertive, to communicate clearly and to be very structured and organized in my approach. On the other hand, I felt like taking the lead in this project was a bit much for an intern position. Sometimes I felt lost and overwhelmed, especially when things turned out to be more difficult due to the protests. Also, Núria had left for Europe and even though the board members were there to help me out, they were not as involved and not up-to-date about the Eco Expo. Luckily, Núria still supported me the best she could from Europe and she really made sure that things were going in the right direction.
My other main task was supporting EuroCham’s Business Councils. The two BCs I was mainly involved with were the EEBC and the FSBC. I was present at the monthly meetings of these Councils and I was the one taking notes and writing minutes afterwards. Besides this, my main task for the EEBC was the Eco Expo as has just been discussed. Regarding the FSBC, my main tasks were organizing two events and writing a summary of an OECD report on Initial Coin Offerings for SME Financing.3
Personally, I found it quite easy to take notes and write minutes. After years of studying, this is something I have practiced over and over again to prepare for exams, so I was already quite familiar with the process. The only thing that was different was the format and style that was used. The organization of the events for the FSBC was interesting. The most important thing I learned from this was how to make a budget. Other elements involved with the organization of this event were promotion, registration, and finding a venue. Writing the summary of the OECD report was quite difficult for me because I do not have a financial background. A big part of the report was therefore difficult for me to understand. I had to do a lot of extra research in order to grasp the concept, but in the end, the summary turned out well. One EuroCham board member
3 The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, “OECD report: Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) for SME
Financing – Summary,” (2019). Accessed November 27, 2019, https://www.eurocham.com.hk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/EurochamHK_Summary_OECD_Report_24092019.pdf.
12 and a member of the FSBC commented on my work and this helped me to write a good summary.
Besides all of these tasks, I had to do some administrative work, like documenting files, organizing business cards in an online system, and keeping track of expenses going in and out. The hardest part of my placement was undoubtedly the period when Núria was in Europe. She left at the beginning of August and returned at the start of September. This meant that I was alone in the office and had to go to meetings by myself. Of course, there were board members around who I could ask questions and luckily after a week, another intern joined EuroCham as well. Also, Núria was still working from Europe and available for questions, so I did not have to rely on only myself. Still, I felt a big responsibility to keep the office running well and this was quite stressful.
Especially the fact that I had to represent EuroCham in all of the BC meetings felt like a big responsibility. The BCs are part of EuroCham, but their members are all experts from a certain field who are part of the BC on a voluntary basis. This means that the EuroCham office has to prepare everything for the meeting, like the agenda and venue, and that it is important that the BC members are happy with EuroCham’s efforts. Looking back on it, this was a stressful period, but I am really happy that I got this opportunity. Even though I was stressed, I managed to put things into perspective. I thought to myself: “I have to take on this responsibility, but I am also still just an intern and I am allowed to fail.” Of course, I did not want to fail and did my best to produce the best work I could, but the idea that failure was allowed gave me some peace of mind. I learned to adopt a highly responsible working attitude and to function in a professional work environment with top people who I otherwise would not have worked with. Also, the BC meetings were always very interesting and provided me with valuable insights into Hong Kong’s various business industries.
In the end, the placement far exceeded my expectations. Most of the tasks I had to do turned out to be more demanding than I initially thought. At first, I thought I would be treated more like an intern, but due to the small size of the office, it felt more like I was a fully recognized employee. EuroCham is a big name and they play a fairly important role in the Hong Kong business community. Working in a small office with a big name meant that I had the opportunity to take on responsibility within a high-level working environment. I learned how to operate in this environment and how to deal with stressful situations. Moreover, Núria in particular, but also EuroCham’s board members offered a lot of support and were very patient and appreciative
13 of my work. I am very happy that I ended up in this organization instead of a bigger one where I would likely not have been able to have the same intense experience.
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5. Connection with IR degree and future career orientation
I believe there is a strong connection between the main IR degree programme, the East Asian track, and my placement at EuroCham. Firstly, my academic background helped me to perform various tasks at the placement with ease. Taking notes, writing minutes, and summarizing the OECD report were all tasks I could easily perform with my academic skillset.
Secondly, the East Asian track prepared me considerably for the placement. A good example of this is the research seminar “Multinational Corporations” which is obligatory for the East Asian track. In this seminar, we talked about the relation between the public and the private sphere and we also focused on China specifically. This helped me to understand the challenges that were faced by the European companies that were part of EuroCham’s BCs who wanted to lobby with the Hong Kong government. Moreover, I could clearly see how Asian cultural values impacted the working culture in Hong Kong. Hierarchy is one of the core principles of Asian culture and it was clearly visible in the local working attitude, where employees never questioned their boss and only went home after the boss went home for example.
Lastly, I think the international character of the IR degree programme helped me to easily transition into an international working environment. Having worked together with students from many different nationalities certainly helped me to understand that people have different ways of doing and seeing things and that many different approaches can be taken to get the same result.
One thing that did not really have any connection with the degree programme was the coordination and organization of the Eco Expo. This connected more to my extracurricular activities. I believe this is not a bad thing, one important factor for me to do a placement was to get more practical experience which is difficult to get in academics. The organization of the European Pavilion at the Eco Expo helped me to broaden my experience into a more practical and less theoretical field.
The placement moreover helped me to get a clearer idea of what I would like to do in my future career. Although I liked my experience at EuroCham, I would not want to work for a non-profit organization, especially not one that is always in the mediator role. I felt like EuroCham was a bridge between the private and public sectors, without a really clear goal. Of course, their mission is to connect and promote European business in Hong Kong, Macao, and the Greater Bay Area, but this is difficult to measure. For a placement, I think this is a perfect place because you get to see and experience both sides. It became clear to me that I would much prefer to
15 work for companies in the private sector. This fast-paced working environment suits me better than the slow and stately working environment which I often encountered in the public sphere. Another great advantage of doing a placement at EuroCham is the big network you are able to build. This goes for any Chamber of Commerce. One of the objectives is to bring together companies and this means that you will be surrounded by many different companies from different sectors. As an intern, this is the ideal opportunity to mingle with people from different business sectors and get in touch with interesting companies, organizations, and people, who may inspire you and be able to help you further your career. I certainly met many interesting people. I found some of them really inspiring in their approach to business. I met also met people whom I fundamentally disagreed with, although I could still respect their vision. Then there were also people who were successful in business, but in my opinion, they were completely delusional and had turned arrogant as a result of their success.
All of these people showed me a different approach to having a professional career and a better idea of what I want out of my own future career. I now know that I want to work in the private sector for a company with a clear goal. I am still flexible when it comes to the type of role I would take on, but something like business development seems interesting to me. I also know that my idea of a ‘successful’ career is not necessarily one in which the goal is to always get higher up, but one in which I can find satisfaction from my work.
For students who would be interested to seek a placement with EuroCham in the future, I have a couple of tips.
1) Be flexible. Working at EuroCham means that you will have a diverse set of tasks and you will work with people from different backgrounds. Moreover, it is a small office, so you will be involved in many different parts of the Chamber.
2) Remember that EuroCham is a business organization. Working in between the private and public sphere sometimes blurs the lines between political and business perspectives. EuroCham approaches issues purely from a business perspective – its aim is not to take a political standpoint.
3) Make the intern position your own. Try to approach your job in a way that works for you. This is your chance to find out how you prefer to work in a professional environment. If you find out what works and what does not, this will help you in your future career when finding a company or organization that aligns with your personal approach to work.
16 4) Make use of this unique position. As an intern for EuroCham, you will get in touch with many successful people from many different sectors who you normally would not get close to. This is a perfect opportunity to build a network and plan your future career.
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6. Conclusion
Concluding, I learned a lot from my placement at EuroCham. I learned to adopt a professional work attitude. I learned to be flexible and work together with people from different backgrounds. I learned what I want out of my future career. Apart from this, I also had a great time in Hong Kong and got to meet many great people during my work but also outside of it. Hong Kong is a great city with many great opportunities. It is also a city with many political and social controversies. I am grateful that I was able to do my placement there and I believe it is a great addition to the IR degree programme.
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7. Bibliography
The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. ABOUT EUROCHAM. Accessed November 27, 2019. https://www.eurocham.com.hk/about-eurocham.
The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. EUROCHAM BUSINESS COUNCILS. Accessed November 27, 2019. https://www.eurocham.com.hk/councils.
The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. OECD report: Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) for SME Financing – Summary (2019). Accessed November 27, 2019.
