Richard Li shares insights on entrepreneurship in Asia

The College of Business was honoured to have Mr. Richard Li Tzar-kai, Founder and Chairman of Pacific Century Group, to deliver a talk entitled “Life as An Entrepreneur in Asia” at CityU on 7 November 2019. Over 50 participants including students from the EMBA+MPA programme and EMBA programme, as well as the College’s faculty members gained business insights into various aspects covering entrepreneurship, human capital, leadership, business outlook in insurance and telecom industries, and more.

Mr. Li is a successful entrepreneur and businessman who deeply believes in the impact of technology, innovation and finance in driving growth in the Asia region. He founded Pacific Century Group in 1993, an Asia-based investment group with businesses spanning financial services, technology, media & telecommunications, and property.

Professor Houmin Yan, Acting Dean of the College, kick-started the seminar, expressing his gratitude to Mr. Li for his generous support to the College and remarking that this was a precious opportunity for participants to learn from Mr. Li’s wealth of entrepreneurial experience in Asia. 

The first part of the sharing was a dialogue between Mr. Li and Professor Xufei Ma of the Department of Management. Mr. Li shared that back to the 1990s, he had a belief that the development of the whole Asia needed to catch-up. At that time, he saw burgeoning middle class and young demographic in Asia were opportunities for the insurance industry. “But if I were 30 or below now, I would choose to start a human resources company. I believe that there is an equitable business model in this area,” Mr. Li added. Mr. Li also shared his views on how social media affects business decision-making, how corporate culture affects business transformation and acquisitions, Hong Kong spirit, long-term business etc.

When being asked for advice for EMBA+MPA students, Mr. Li said there were plentiful opportunities in Asia. He encouraged students to choose the right company to join and more importantly to find out how they can contribute to the company and society. Students also need to know whether the company is willing to share the fruit of success with its employees.

The dialogue part was followed by a Q&A session where Mr. Li exchanged with the audience his insights on development of the Hong Kong tech industry, as well as his vision for the future development of the telecom and insurance businesses.

The event was part of “Politics and Business Panorama”（政商大視野）, a seminar series organised by the EMBA+MPA programme, a double master’s programme jointly developed by the CityU’s College of Business and Tsinghua University’s School of Public Policy and Administration. Distinguished speakers are invited to share insights on a wide range of topics in business and political context, with a focus on the Chinese economy.