Media Release – March 9, 2008

The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong has officially launched its revamped website ( www.amcham.org.hk ) today, designed to be especially user-friendly and to offer e-commerce online.
The new website has been under reconstruction for almost two years and offers users an information-rich environment that required extensive training of staff members. "On site, each of our four key departments is its own webmaster," notes Fred Armentrout, AmCham's communications director, “that way information flows directly from its editorial source, rather than being filtered through an administrative webmaster with no knowledge of what departments actually do every day."
The site also offers an easy and up-front shopping experience to book and pay for choices from some 300 events a year, or to buy copies of its own six annual books and those of other publishers, and to subscribe to its monthly magazine. It operates much like the legendary amazon.com, with purchases made by simply clicking the “Add to Cart” and “Checkout” buttons to fill in shipping details and credit card information.
Website users seeking information can catch up on sections that carry AmCham's annual and ad hoc surveys and studies, public notices, position papers, advocacy papers, committee descriptions and press releases in the Press Center. They can also learn the history of AmCham Hong Kong and of AmChams as a global phenomenon and find lists of AmChams in China and the Asia Pacific region.
Also featured are online versions of various AmCham publications, including monthly AmCham magazines and latest editions of its two classic resource handbooks: Living in Hong Kong and Doing Business in Hong Kong - Your Guide to Establishing an Office.
Also noteworthy are the enhanced membership services, including access to 25 individual committee forums, automatic member discounts on all AmCham products or services, and free access to an archive of the popular fortnightly NewsBriefs business intelligence newsletter, all of which are open only to members.
The purpose of the committee forums is not only to make the website more informative but also more interactive, providing AmCham's frequent-traveller members a private platform within which to remained linked to each other where they can discuss and exchange opinions in a continuing thread as issues develop around the region.
“The web is the centrepost of our 21st Century communications strategy," notes Armentrout, "our Chamber is 40 years old and this first step has brought all of our inherited legacy print and electronic media into its ambit. Next, we will work to have it become the driver of our messaging activities going forward. We have always seen print and electronics as complementary if managed well, rather than competitive.”
"Further developing and enhancing the interactions and values of our website and our print and other electronic media is part of our ongoing commitment to providing the region's premier business forum for networking and access to information.” Armentrout added.
For inquiries, please contact AmCham’s Press Affairs Manager, Ms Toni Lau, on 2530-6915, or by email: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .