On September 9, 2019, we signed a HKD400 million four-year term green loan and revolving credit facility (“Green Loan”) with a group of eight leading banks at Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel. Together with HKD350 million in Green Financing completed last year, we secured green loans totalling HKD750 million in two years and became the first private company and manufacturer in Hong Kong to complete the Green Loan for two consecutive years.
In addition to increasing capital investments to reduce carbon emissions and save energy at our China plants, we have been proactively implementing our ‘China Plus’ strategy for a few years now, and have been looking for suitable locations in Southeast Asia to bring our green printing philosophy to new markets.
Committed to realizing sustainable development, we consider energy and emission reduction a major global trend and the driver for rapid growth in the paper printing industry. We plan to utilize part of the Green Loan on developing green project at our Heshan plant in China, aiming at reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions, as well as curbing and treating gas, solid and water waste. We will also engage in other projects that promote green construction. Furthermore, we plan to utilize part of the loan to build a 80,000 sq. m. green plant in Southeast Asia that will comply with the UK Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) certification standard, hence it will meet stringent standards pertaining to energy consumption, and waste water and waste material discharge.
“To adapt to market changes and strengthen risk management, we have formed strategic partnerships with customers at their request, and set up another production base outside China. We believe that such moves will be helpful in alleviating the negative impact caused by the Sino-US trade war on businesses and costs of the Group and our customers. One year has passed, and today I am pleased to announce that our first plant in Southeast Asia has commenced production. It is among the first plants to be established in the region by a large
printing group. As for our second plant in Southeast Asia, which has a land area of 80,000 sq. m., we officially took possession of the land and the new plant will start production in 2021. Our prompt response to market needs and changes has been the key to our success,” said Mr. Samuel Leung, our Group Chairman.
We received strong support from various banks securing Green Financing and completing the second round of our Green Financing plan, which amounted to HKD400 million involving eight leading banks in just two months. The eight banking institutions that participated in the Green Financing exercise include (in alphabetical order):
Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd.
BNP Paribas
Citibank, N.A.
Hang Seng Bank Ltd.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
Mizuho Bank, Ltd.
MUFG Bank, Ltd.
The Bank of East Asia, Ltd.
We would like to thank these institutions for their trust and recognition and will continue to deliver on our promise of leading the industry towards a greener future. Looking forward, we strive to improve our environmental performance in the production and business operations to reduce the ecological footprint to help create a better future.