New jockey club chief faces up to Macau casino challenge
The newly appointed chief of the Jockey Club yesterday acknowledged the challenges posed by Macau while reiterating the club's commitment to brave the changes.
'Our commercial environment has changed dramatically in recent times and will continue to change,' Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, who will replace Lawrence Wong Chi-kong as chief executive officer in February next year, said on the announcement of his appointment.
'The opening up of aggressive competition in the casinos in Macau who will seek to take our customers is just one such challenge,' he said. 'The opportunity to host the equestrian events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics is another. But we have a great team and we share the vision of the Hong Kong Jockey Club as a world leader in the provision of horse racing, sports betting and entertainment.'
Announcing Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges' appointment, club chairman John Chan Cho-chak said it took a seven-month worldwide recruitment exercise to identify the new chief executive.
'In racing, we are renowned as one of the cleanest jurisdictions in the world, where the racing is fair and honest, and we undertook this process the same way,' Mr Chan said. 'There was no race-fixing, it was a real race with everyone properly considered, and after a worldwide search the board of stewards has appointed someone that we believe can lead the Hong Kong Jockey Club to even greater things.'
Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges, who joined the club in 1998 after six years as chief executive of German racing, said he was 'greatly honoured' at the trust placed in him.
'I am proud to work for a non-profit operation, with no commercial interest and no shareholders demanding that we deliver profits for them - our commitment is to the people of Hong Kong. In his 11 years at the club, Larry Wong has laid a very solid foundation to face the challenges the club faces,' Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said.
The search for a replacement for Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges as executive director of racing is under way.
