Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t3: Abdoolally Ebrahim & Co
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c5.s3.t3
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Abdoolally Ebrahim & Co
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Abdoolally Ebrahim & Co, (today known as the Abdoolally Ebrahim Group, AEG) was one of the earliest Indian companies to set up in Hong Kong, just after its establishment as a British colony. It is the oldest firm in Hong Kong surviving under its original name and is the oldest surviving client of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).
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Shaikh Jaffer E Ebrahim
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The company was founded in 1842 by Seth Ebrahim Noordin, a member of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community from Bombay. Dawoodi Bohras from Gujarat have played a significant role in the overseas trade from western India to the Persian Gulf and East Africa as well as to various ports in East and Southeast Asia. Initially trading in cotton, silk, opium and tea, the company has over the decades expanded and diversified into many other areas. It was one of the companies whose opium stocks were confiscated just prior to the Opium War, which received compensation for it in 1864. The AEG began the first cross-harbour ferry service between Tsim Sha Tsui and Central in Hong Kong in 1842. In the same year, it opened offices in Canton and Shanghai. In Shanghai, its office was located on the Shanghai Bund. Although they vacated that office following the revolution, they reopened it in 2004. Since then, they have opened branch offices in Shenzhen and Dalian as well.
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In Hong Kong, the AEG’s headquarters since 1920 has been located at 20 Stanley Street. In 1940, it became a founding member of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, and in 1952, it joined the Indian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong. Some of the major sectors in which it has been involved are agri business, metals and minerals and ship-chartering. Textiles and housewares are other major areas in which the group is involved. (*Madhavi Thampi*)