Richard Elman, chief executive of Noble Group, has based his trading company in Hong Kong as the pivotal base for operations in the region.

Richard Elman, chief executive officer of the raw materials, trading and sourcing company Noble Group, has spent most of his working life in Asia after he first visited Hong Kong in the 1960s. From starting work as a "coolie" at a scrap-metal yard in England, he now heads a pan-Asia listed trading company that deals in everything from cocoa to steel.

He established the Noble Group in 1986 - now Asia's largest diversified commodities trading company with operating divisions in agricultural, energy, finance, minerals and ores, logistics and technology. Last year, the company turned over HK$14 billion (US$1.8 billion).

In July, global magazine Trade Finance awarded Noble Trade Finance Limited the 2002 award for Best Newcomer in the Trade Finance Industry. In April, Noble was also voted as one of the Best Managed Companies from 10 countries in Asia by regional magazine FinanceAsia.

"Basically, the Noble Group links producers and consumers on a global basis, integrating sourcing, marketing, processing and transportation of industrial and agricultural products and e-commerce.

We have a network of more than 30 offices around the world in such diverse places as Sulawesi and Surabaya, to Los Angeles and London. Hong Kong, our headquarters, has sound infrastructure and acts as the pivotal base for conducting business in Asia.

In a typical example of a complex "conversion" transaction, Noble sources iron ore from a mine in India, delivers it to a steel mill in the Chinese mainland for conversion into a downstream product, and then delivers the converted product to a Korean steel mill.

Communications have had the biggest impact on the trading and sourcing industry. The explosion of the Internet in Asia in the mid-to-late 1990s radically shrank the distance between buyer and seller, often to just a mouse click. Everything became transparent. You can't trade on lack of information anymore.

In that regard, Hong Kong has some of the finest communication systems in the world. It also has the people with excellent IT skills who can squeeze the best use from new technology.

While the economic environment globally is weak, we continue to see opportunities to expand existing business lines and to enter new ones via acquisition. In Asia, the historic heart of many of our businesses, we see continued strength in demand from the Chinese mainland.

As a place where I have operated a business for many years and raised a family, Hong Kong has many positive points. Without sensationalising matters we must be realistic that those golden days of the 1980s and 90s are not likely to reappear for some time - if ever.

This is a global situation but not one Hong Kong can choose to ignore. We have the people with enormous talent and skills but we must find ways to be more cost competitive, creative and innovative. We must continue to move forward with that vitality and "can-do spirit" for which Hong Kong is so renowned.

Hong Kong is a fantastic platform for doing business in the mainland. Multinationals setting up in the mainland still need Hong Kong for everything from rest and recuperation, to finance, to other support services. Many of those companies still have sizeable support offices in Hong Kong.

It is obvious that as China opens up its huge economy, there will be a need for specialists to navigate through the mainland market. The knowledge held by Hong Kong people sitting on the mainland's doorstep cannot be ignored.

Senior managers worth their stock options know how important it is to articulate a corporate vision that the troops can rally around, and this is what Hong Kong needs to do now. If we combine a cost effective approach with foresight and flexibility, this is certainly achievable.

Ultimately, the key to success lies in that age-old dictum: Give the customers what they want, at a fair price, and with excellent service."