Ethnic minorities are key members of the Hong Kong society. Unfortunately, many still face unfavourable treatment or even discrimination when accessing services in everyday life.

On 27 January 2024, the EOC held a panel discussion, titled “Racially Friendly Customer Service: Why & How”, at the Halal Pavilion in LOHAS Expo 2024 to engage local product and service providers on ways to improve racial inclusivity in their customer services.

Panellists at the event included Sharifa LEUNG, Managing Director of 3 Hani Enterprises Limited, Patrick CHENG, Operations Director of 7-Eleven Hong Kong & Macau, and Hector TELMO, Senior Unit Manager of Manulife (International) Limited. A number of signatories of the EOC’s Racial Diversity and Inclusion Charter for Employers also joined the event and the discussions. Together, the participants examined the business case for enhancing racial inclusivity in services, explored the barriers to achieve racial inclusion in frontline services, and exchanged ideas on ways to foster inclusive shopping experiences.

The views and experiences shared during the panel discussion will certainly prove useful to other service providers. The EOC will continue to engage stakeholders to ensure people from different cultural and language backgrounds can enjoy equal opportunities to participate in all aspects of society.