The Federation of Hong Kong Industries has been organising the annual Young Industrialist Awards of Hongkong since 1988. The 2008 Awards are co-sponsored by Bank of China (Hong Kong), Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation, Hong Kong Young Industrialist Council, HK Q-Mark Council, and Shanghai Commercial Bank Limited. Supporting organisations include HK Export Credit Insurance Corporation, HK Productivity Council, HK Trade Development Council and The Professional Validation Council of Hong Kong Industries. The trophy sponsor of the Awards is Hang Fung Gold Technology Group. The aim of the Awards is to honour outstanding industrialists for their achievements and commitment to manufacturing industry and to encourage them to further contribute their expertise to the territory's economic development.

Each year, the winners of this award give Hong Kong manufacturing industries inspiration and encouragement, they also inspire other young people to choose manufacturing as a career.

The Federation is keen to acknowledge those individuals who have contributed to Hong Kong's success through their hard work, vision, perseverance, determination and quick response to changing market conditions.

As market conditions continue to change, manufacturing companies need to adopt higher value-added production and technology-intensive manufacturing to be competitive. All of the young industrialists this year have recognised this need and led the way, introducing innovative technology-driven solutions into their organisations.

An important factor in the success of the Young Industrialist Awards has been the strict and thorough judging process. Each year the Federation invites senior government policy-makers, experienced industrialists and leading academics to sit on the judging panel. The panel interviews candidates in person and their achievements and contributions to industry and to society are scrutinised to ensure the awards are conferred on the best candidates.

Industrialists who have resided in Hong Kong for more than seven years and are between the ages of 21 and 45 are eligible for nomination. A total of 145 industrialists received the awards between 1988 and 2007.

Since 2002, the Federation opened nominations for the Industrialist of the Year Award. The Award is to recognise an outstanding industrialist who has made significant contributions to industry and HK community.