A Chinese New Year celebration at the Georgia Aquarium rang in the Year of the Rabbit and promised new beginnings for Hong Kong as the city prepares to welcome the world with pandemic restrictions removed.
But a mainstay of the Atlanta’s international community also used the moment to say an official goodbye.
Gene Hanratty, who for 30 years served as senior consultant in Atlanta for New York’s Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, was recognized for his determination to keep one of Asia’s most dynamic business hubs front of mind locally during a tumultuous three decades.
“For me, he’s a walking icon representing Hong Kong in this part of the U.S.,” said Candy Nip, the director of the Hong Kong office in New York, as she presented Mr. Hanratty with a book of curated stamps from the Hong Kong Post. She thanked him for “putting your heart, putting your passion to work for Hong Kong.”
In brief remarks, Mr. Hanratty, said he had enough experiences to fill a book from his time working with Hong Kong.
“To all my friends out there who think I have an H.K., printed on my forehead, I think I do,” he joked.
A career infantry officer in the U.S. Army, Mr. Hanratty served extensively in Asia over a 20-year military career that included multiple combat tours and stints in Vietnam, Okinawa and Korea.
Before joining up with Hong Kong in Atlanta, he represented The Korea Society, based in New York, here from 1990-94. He then took up the job of locally working for Hong Kong just before the 1997 handover that put the former British territory into the hands of the People’s Republic of China after more than 150 years of colonial rule.
In the years leading up to that landmark event, Mr. Hanratty welcomed a parade of officials to Atlanta seeking to allay fears about “one country, two systems,” the legal framework that allowed Hong Kong to maintain its freedoms and autonomy, as well as its own currency and a separate customs district, even upon reuniting with the communist mainland.
The Basic Law, the “mini-constitution” of the Hong Kong special administrative region since the handover, was said to guarantee the very democratic rights that many contend have been threatened by a new national security law imposed by China in 2020 in response to democracy protests.
Still, Hong Kong continues to be an important conduit for global trade with China and a global financial and Asian corporate hub in its own right.
According to Ms. Nip, Hong Kong was the third largest market for international public offerings in the world last year, and it hosted 75 percent of transactions for the offshore version of the Chinese renminbi.
Now, Hong Kong is fully open for visitors as well and has just launched the “Hello Hong Kong” campaign to reintroduce the city to the world with special events, programs and festivals.
“All quarantine and travel restrictions have been lifted and Hong Kong is proud to be back on the international stage, ready to welcome visitors from around the world,” Ms. Nip said in her remarks to more than 200 guests at the event. “Rabbits symbolize strength, energy and agility. These are also the characteristics of Hong Kong. In the Year of the Rabbit, we look forward to offering the world new business opportunities, novel cultural experiences and diverse entertainment for tourists.”
Hong Kong plans to give away 500,000 airline tickets, though Ms. Nip said it has yet to determine how to distribute them among the world’s various markets. She also outlined efforts to attract talent to Hong Kong, with schemes launched this month to welcome “sector specialists and new blood as well.” Some 7,000 applications under new talent admission schemes have come in already this month, with 5,000 approved.
During her recent trip to Atlanta, Ms. Nip’s sixth time in the city in two years, Mr. Hanratty accompanied her to Georgia Tech, where she met with officials from Atlanta’s fintech community at the Advanced Technology Development Center, the city’s oldest tech incubator.
Another one of Mr. Hanratty’s perennial events since at least 1995, the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival, is slated to return this fall.
Learn more about the Hong Kong Association of Atlanta here.
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