Ms Connie Lau, the Chief Executive of the Consumer Council, has been elected to the Council of the Consumers International (CI). For the sixth consecutive term, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Consumer Council has been invited to sit in the CI Executive Council.
The election of the Consumers International comes right after the 19th CI World Congress 2011 which was taken place in Hong Kong on 3 to 6 May.
The World Congress, co-organised by the Hong Kong Consumer Council, had the largest number of participants in recent years. There were over 700 delegates from over 60 countries and jurisdictions attended the Congress. This also included over 120 consumer delegates from mainland China which is the ever-largest delegation to the CI World Congress.
The US consumer rights chief, Mr. James Guest, becomes the newly elected President of CI with the other 13 CI members being elected to the Council.
Serving as the CEO of the Consumers Union of United States, Mr. Guest was also previously the Vice President of CI.
Mr. Guest outlined the vision for the CI on the global consumer movement "not to take no for an answer". He also thanked the Hong Kong Consumer Council for hosting a successful CI World Congress 2011.
With the theme of "Empowering Tomorrow's Consumers", the 19th CI World Congress have explored the ways for empowering consumers around the issues that really matter in the 21st Century - sustainability, corporate responsibility, safe and nutritious food, access to knowledge in the digital world, and a fair financial system that puts consumers first.