Living in the lap of luxury (hktdc.com)


	Francis Gouten, CEO of Richemont Asia Pacific, explains Hong Kong's strengths as a market for luxury brands

Francis Gouten, CEO of Richemont Asia Pacific, one of the world's leading luxury groups, has been living in Hong Kong on and off for over 25 years. Hong Kong, he says, is a strong market for the group's upmarket labels which include some of the world's most prestigious names in the industry, such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, Alfred Dunhill and Jaeger-LeCoultre, to name a few. He is enraptured by the city he describes as dynamic and fascinating, and foresees that the love affair with Hong Kong will continue.

"I first visited Hong Kong in the early 1980s and was pleasantly surprised to find that although it was another world - completely unlike my native Europe - I felt as comfortable as I did at home. Having been a student of art in Paris, I had always been attracted to and fascinated by Asian art and calligraphy, so Hong Kong was my perfect travel destination.

Then in 1981, an ideal opportunity presented itself when I was promoted to CEO of Cartier Asia. Initially, this entailed my travelling to Hong Kong every three months, but a year later I was happily able to move here with my family.

Over the next 20 years, due to work, I moved back to France and then Switzerland but effectively lived and travelled between Hong Kong and Europe. However, I moved back to Hong Kong in 1999, when I took on the role at Richemont to unify our brands under the umbrella group.

For me, Hong Kong is one of the great cities of the world. It is a dynamic and fascinating place with a unique mix of people from a rich variety of origins, all living together without any discernable disharmony.

Efficient business hub

In terms of business, this is a place of superlative efficiency with advanced financial services, minimal bureaucracy and excellent customer service. Essentially, everyone in Hong Kong wants to do business, which makes it a great workplace.

Of course, if you plan to launch or introduce a luxury brand in China, Hong Kong, which has always been a very strong market within the luxury goods industry, is the first entry to this market. People travelling from China and abroad like to spend their money in Hong Kong, where they can enjoy the benefits of the mature distribution network.

In contrast to the West, where people often tend to shy away from displaying their success or wealth, Asian people, especially those in Hong Kong, are proud of their achievements. They are more than happy to show the symbols of their hard-earned prosperity. Asians love beautiful things and seem especially fond of quality watches. The fact that Cartier has been operating successfully in Hong Kong for more than 30 years is an eloquent testament to this.

Although Europe is still Richemont's biggest market, Asia-Pacific, the group's second largest market, is showing a phenomenal rate of growth with incredible potential as China continues to open up its market. Although Hong Kong will remain the main display window for Asia in terms of luxury goods, our industry is set to benefit hugely from the rapid development of the mainland market.

So what does my personal future hold? Since my business connections are predominantly in Asia, my best friends are all in Asia, and I have one of my sons based here with his Asian wife and my beautiful granddaughter, I have reasons enough to stay. The fact that I really love living and doing business in Hong Kong makes any thoughts of returning to Europe seem both vague and very far off."