November 6, 2009, Hong Kong – Three outstanding businesswomen and an international company well regarded for its support for women in the workforce received joyous support and applause for earning the “Women of Influence” Awards this year. Organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong (AmCham) in association with the South China Morning Post, the awards seek to recognize and honor the accomplishments and success of these leaders in our community as they provide great inspiration for many other women to excel in their professions and for companies to support women in work life balance.

“Each year we recognize individual achievement as well as working women the opportunity to meet role models. Here are some women who are living big, widely successful lives. And that inspires us to live big lives too," said Ms. Maura Fallon, who chairs the AmCham Women of Influence Committee. "All in all, this day is uplifting and energizing.

At a formal awards ceremony today, the following outstanding women for the three award categories were announced:

Ms. Eva Ip, Managing Director, Transaction Advisory Services of Ernst & Young Transactions Ltd., a professional who is under 40 and has achieved inspirational business success, received the Young Achiever of the Year award;

Ms. Esther Ma, CEO and Founder of Prestique Limited, who demonstrated outstanding success in running her own business, received the Entrepreneur of the Year award;

Ms. Vivian Lau, CEO of Junior Achievement Hong Kong & HK Petrochemical Co. Limited, who has successfully become an influential and leading practitioner in her chosen professional field, received the Professional of the Year award.

“The judges had a very difficult job this year as quality of the some 50 nominations received for the 4 award categories was exceptional," remarked Mrs. Sheila Chuang, Senior VP of ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Vice Chair of the Amcham WOI Committee and Chair of the judging committee for the WOI Awards. "We couldn't help but marvel at the amazing accomplishments in so many different aspects by so many women in Hong Kong. Many judges indicated that it was a truly humbling while at the same time inspiring experience." Mrs. Chuang said.

The Best Company for Women Award went to Cisco Systems (HK) Limited, for having exhibited exceptional achievements in supporting the development of women in business and in providing work life balance programs aimed at empowering women to pursue business careers and personal development.

This is the fourth year that AmCham has partnered with the South China Morning Post to identify and spotlight Hong Kong’s Women of Influence and is the sixth year since AmCham founded and spearheaded this much-anticipated annual event.

This year’s WOI Conference & Awards are generously sponsored by Morgan Stanley, Citi, Tiffany & Co., Coca-Cola Pacific, FedEx Express, Goldman Sachs, Kellogg-HKUST Business School, Marriott International Inc., and Walmart Asia.

"We believe it is important to develop and recognize female role models," remarked Mr. Eddie Ahmed, Managing Director and Head of Human Resources, Asia for Morgan Stanley who also oversees the Firm's Talent Management Committee for the region. "This is why we find this program so attractive and have supported it since its inception. Through our support, we want to help showcase best practices for companies and help women make an even greater impact in their organizations and in their communities."

Nominations to the awards were received from June to September this year. More than 50 entries were submitted for the Awards. A panel of 12 judges reviewed this year’s nominations; they include:

Ms. Ingrun Alsleben, Chief Financial Officer, Bayer Group Companies in HK, Bayer

Ms. Jenny Bowen, Founder & Executive Director, Half the Sky Foundation

Ms. Janet De Silva, Director, Retail Asia Ltd.

Ms. Christina Ellerker, VP, Regulatory Affairs, AP (ex-Japan), Moody’s Asia Pacific Ltd.

Ms. Michele Felder, Senior Director of Marketing, AP, Juniper Networks

Ms. Sabrina Fung, Executive Director, LiFung Trinity Limited

Ms. Anita Leung, Partner & AmCham Governor, Jones Day

Ms. Jennifer Moyer, Head, Federation Human Capital Mgt (HCM) for Asia, Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC

Ms. Camille Tang, President, ConvenientPower Group

Ms. Jennifer Van Dale, Partner, Employment Law Group, Baker & McKenzie

Mr. Richard R. Vuylsteke, Ph.D., President, The American Chamber of Commerce in HK

Mr. Shengman Zhang, Chairman, Asia Pacific, Citi Country Officer, HK, Citi & AmCham Governor

Below are photos for download:

http://www.amcham.org.hk/images/Events/woi/2009WOI/dsc_0199.jpg

(Ms. Maura Fallon, the Chair of AmCham Women of Influence Committee, gave her opening remarks at today’s WOI conference)

http://www.amcham.org.hk/images/Events/woi/2009WOI/dsc_0282.jpg

(Winners of 2009 Women of Influence awards from the right: Ms Eva Ip, Ms. Esther Ma, Ms. Vivian Lau, and Ms. Sabrina Lin representing Cisco Systems HK Limited.)

Biography of winners for the three individual categories can be found at:

Young Achiever of the Year - http://www.amcham.org.hk/images/Events/woi/2009WOI/eva%20ip%20-%20english.pdf

Entrepreneur of the Year - http://www.amcham.org.hk/images/Events/woi/2009WOI/esther%20ma%20-%20english.pdf

Professional of the Year - http://www.amcham.org.hk/images/Events/woi/2009WOI/vivian%20lau%20-%20english.pdf

For inquiries, please contact Mr. Mark Wong, Public Affairs Manager, on 2530-6917 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

About the Women of Influence Awards

Organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong in association with the South China Morning Post, the awards seek to recognize and honor the best that Hong Kong has produced and to provide inspiration to other women. Past winners of individual categories awards in 2008 and 2007 include Ms. Uhi MC Hui, Ms. Elizabeth L. Thomson, Ms. Julia Charlton, Ms. Barbara Wong, Ms. Jenny Bowen, and Ms. Miriam Lau. More details about the past WOI Awards recipients can be found at: http://www.amcham.org.hk/content/view/5789/554/

All individuals connected with AmCham, South China Morning Post, Women of Influence Committee, as well as all sponsoring companies of the event and the employees of those companies, were not eligible for entry to the Awards.

About The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

AmCham Hong Kong is the largest and most active international business association in the Special Administrative Region with about 1,800 members representing almost 700 American, Hong Kong, Chinese and other international companies from over 30 different nationalities. The SAR represents the regional headquarters for about 290 U.S. companies. For more information about AmCham Hong Kong, please visit www.amcham.org.hk

About The South China Morning Post

First published in 1903, The South China Morning Post is the flagship publication of the SCMP Group Limited, a leading newspaper and magazine publisher listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK: 583). The paper has the city’s most affluent and influential readership. Striving to maintain the highest standards among the world’s quality newspapers, the South China Morning Post receives constant international recognition. It has won 32 awards in 2006 for excellence in editorial, marketing and technical capability.