January 28, 2003

Dear MCBC Members:

I am pleased to report that at the Maryland-China Business Council’s Annual Meeting held on Wednesday, January 22, 2003, the members present approved the following slate for the MCBC Board of Directors.

W. Fontaine Bell
Winston Chan
Eric B. Easton
Anthony Goh
Robert C. Goodwin, Jr.
Stephen J. Hammalian
Clay E. Hickson
Elizabeth Todd Lambert
John Lau
Roger T. Lawrence
Kevin M. O’Connell
David A. Rice
Peter Senica
Jean Van Buskirk
Dean Wei

Membership for the year is growing on pace, with numerous renewals and new members joining. At the time of the election, there were already a total of 50 members, and 18 of those were in attendance with 17 votes cast for the slate and one abstention (more than 60 people were in attendance at the meeting to participate in the discussion on the US Export-Import Bank). According to MCBC by-laws each member organization or individual member may cast one vote if they are present at the annual meeting. One-fourth of the eligible voters must be present for there to be a quorum, and a simple majority is required of eligible members present.

Last year was a very active year for MCBC. We ended 2002 with 91 members—36 corporate and 55 individual. Over the course of the year we organized 11 regular monthly programs and events, including the First Annual John Holdridge Memorial Lecture to honor the late Ambassador John Holdridge's legacy in strengthening US-China relations and in supporting MCBC. We also co-sponsored or supported 10 other events, including a water monitoring technology business briefing organized by the US Trade and Development Agency, an agribusiness seminar organized by the Maryland Department of Agriculture, a business opportunities forum organized by the World Trade Center Institute, and a legal issues forum organized by the US Department of Commerce. 

We believe that 2003 will be a good year for MCBC and that we are well positioned to achieve our mission of fostering increased business understanding and activity with China through networking, speaker programs and other activities. Since MCBC is a volunteer organization, to be successful we rely upon all the membership for suggestions and for hands-on assistance with our programs and activities.

Sincerely,

Clay E. Hickson