Let our strengths in financial services be known to the ASEAN

I am going to Manila, capital of the Philippines next Monday to attend the Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). During my stay, I will take the opportunity to meet the officials of the new Philippine Government, which took office in end-June, as well as some local enterprises to identify and explore business opportunities for Hong Kong’s professional financial services.

I had been to Manila when I was small, mainly to visit my grandparents, who ran a small shop trading coffee beans. What I remember most are the high regard of the Chinese families there for Chinese culture and the clip-clop of the hooves of carriage horses walking down the street in the city centre in early morning. Nowadays, the Philippines is not only a prominent member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, but also a country under the Belt and Road Initiative and a key link of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. In addition to tourism and trade, which we will normally think of when it comes to the Philippines, the huge demand for infrastructure in the country is noteworthy. Hong Kong, by leveraging its diversified investment and financing platform for equities and bonds as well as its professional services and multi-level connectivity with the Mainland’s capital market, can cater for such development demand.

At the ASEAN and international level, I am eager to share Hong Kong’s achievements and plans in respect of green finance and post-pandemic sustainability with the representatives of over 55 regions attending the Annual Meeting of the ADB, with a view to brightening up Hong Kong’s brand image in financial services, as well as telling the good story of Hong Kong as an international financial center.


24 September 2022