With Hong Kong as his home and business headquarters, Hans-Joerg Seeberger is well placed to reach his goal of making EganaGoldpfeil one of the most respected companies in the world

Hans-Joerg Seeberger believes that time waits for no man. While still a student in Germany, his desire to see the world became so strong that the teenager sold his prized possession - a valuable stamp collection - to fund a sea passage to Asia. Today, 36 years later, Mr Seeberger heads his own multinational corporation, EganaGoldpfeil (Holdings) Limited, headquartered in Hong Kong, supplying some of the world's most successful luxury brand watches, jewellery, leather, fashion and lifestyle products to over 90 countries. Turnover for the EganaGoldpfeil is HK$3.1 billion (US$398 million) with a market cap of HK$1.68 billion (US$216 million).

"In the early days while travelling between Japan and Hong Kong, I started dealing in pearls and later added diamonds and eventually leather for the clothing and shoe industry. In 1978 I started the Egana Group strictly as a trading company. Having bought the name from a small Swiss company, I always intended to use it as an umbrella for a variety of brand names.

Dealing mainly with private label business, the company originally kept a low profile in public. That changed in 1991, when we acquired a Hong Kong company Eco Swiss China Time bringing with it international brands like Accutron and Bulova. By 1993, the company was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Our brand portfolio had also grown to include high profile names such as Esprit, Carrera, Junghans, Pierre Cardin, Stefanie Graf, Mexx and Cerruti 1881.

In 1998, the group acquired the Goldpfeil brand, which is very well known in the leather industry. To synergise the merger, we combined our name to EganaGoldpfeil to represent our strength and our readiness to move forward into the international scene of known luxury brands.

Originally, we had our manufacturing facilities in the Central district, then later we moved to Aberdeen before finally moving to our current location at Lai Chi Kok. Three years ago, production was shifted to the Chinese mainland where we have factories in five locations. EganaGoldpfeil now employs 3,800 staff worldwide including 220 in Hong Kong. We have a 24 per cent stake in Hong Kong-listed Tonic Industries, which employs 10,500 and has one of the most advanced consumer electronics factories in China, manufacturing household products for brands like Pioneer, Kenwood and Sanyo.

Our headquarters remains in Hong Kong - we co-ordinate our world activities from here. The number one reason is that Hong Kong is my own destiny; I have been living here so long.

For us, Hong Kong is still the gateway to China, and that gives us an edge when dealing with the mainland. Hong Kong people are capable, flexible and willing to work. It is easy to do business in Hong Kong, and far less complicated than in some other cities.

Everything comes together here so well. Whatever you need in business, you can have easy access to it. And if you want to get away from Hong Kong for a few days' break, everywhere in the region is within reach easily.

On the manufacturing side, China is already a big market and after its World Trade Organisation entry, overseas firms will have much more access. For example, on January 1, 2003, imported watches can be freely traded in China.

From our Hong Kong base we are gearing up for China. We have already done total marketing research on China to determine the real potential. All the data has been analysed and people are talking to us already, as they want to benefit from our proven marketing and sales know-how.

The advantage of being in Hong Kong is that we were able to transfer industry know-how from Germany, Switzerland and Japan. The geographic location of our four factories makes it possible to visit them all within one day, and that is a distinctive advantage because time is an important factor.

At the 2001 Basel Fair, EganaGoldpfeil watches won four world championships under the Goldpfeil Geneve brand. Now, Christie's of London has catalogued seven of our Goldpfeil Geneve, one-of-a-kind watches and will auction them in Geneva, Switzerland, following a year's tour of all major cities of the world.

We have just opened our first two Goldpfeil shops in Hong Kong. Being based in one of the most fashion-minded cities of the world, where there are sophisticated buyers who want high-end brands, we think we have an excellent future. In fact, we dare to dream to become one of the most respected companies in the world in our class."

Related links:
EganaGoldpfeil (Holdings) Limited www.egana.com
Esprit www.esprit.com
Carrera www.carrerasport.com
Junghans www.junghansusa.com
Pierre Cardin www.pierrecardin.com
Stefanie  stefaniegraf.com
Mexx www.mexx.com
Pioneer www.pioneerelectronics.com
Kenwood www.kenwood.com
Sanyo www.sanyo.com
Basel www.messebasel.ch/e/
Christie www.christies.com