Financial Secretary Paul Chan Leads Hong Kong I&T Delegation to Spain and UK for Cooperation Opportunities

FS to visit Spain and the UK

The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, will depart for Europe in the early hours tomorrow (September 22). He will first visit Madrid, Spain, and then London, the United Kingdom (UK). For this visit, Mr Chan will lead a delegation from the innovation and technology (I&T) sector, comprising senior executives from the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP) and Cyberport, as well as heads of a group of startups engaged in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, fintech, green technology, Web 3.0, etc.

While in Madrid from September 22 to 25, Mr Chan will visit various local I&T institutions and enterprises, as well as meet with members from the political, business and I&T communities. The delegation will also attend a themed business luncheon organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) to promote Hong Kong's advantages to the local political, business, financial and I&T sectors, particularly Hong Kong’s burgeoning I&T ecosystem.

Mr Chan will visit London from September 25 to 28. There, he will participate in a series of events, including the Plenary of the Hong Kong-European Business Council (Note 1); the Hong Kong Dinner hosted by the HKTDC; a luncheon organised by the Hong Kong Association (Note 2), and a roundtable meeting hosted by Asia House, a think tank based in the UK. On these occasions, he will share the latest developments and advantages of Hong Kong. He will also meet with members of the local political, business and financial communities.

While in Spain and the UK, representatives from the HKSTP, Cyberport as well as startups in the delegation will engage in exchanges with relevant institutions and members of local venture capital funds and I&T circles to seek cooperation opportunities.

Mr Chan will return from London in the evening of September 28 (local time) and arrive in Hong Kong in the afternoon of September 29. During his absence, the Deputy Financial Secretary, Mr Michael Wong, will be the Acting Financial Secretary.

Note 1: The Hong Kong-European Business Council is a bilateral committee established by the HKTDC with Europe to foster high-level dialogue between Hong Kong business leaders and their local counterparts, promoting bilateral trade, investment, and economic cooperation.

Note 2: The Hong Kong Association is an organisation based in the UK aimed at promoting business and trading relationship between Hong Kong and the UK. The association has over 80 corporate members including global banks, international enterprises, the China-Britain Business Council, etc.

Remarks by FS at media session (with photo/video)

The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan; the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, and the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, together with the Chief Executive Officer of the Securities and Futures Commission, Ms Julia Leung, and the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Mr Eddie Yue, met the media this evening (April 7). Following are Mr Chan's remarks at the media session:

Reporter: What tools does the Government have to handle the situation of the market and will Hong Kong consider a national team investor equivalent to intervene? Should the markets keep dropping, what is the bottom line for the state of the market before countermeasures will be considered?

Financial Secretary: I think Julia has explained very clearly the situation in the Hong Kong stock market. Basically, the market has been functioning orderly. There are substantial selling but also buying interests. The spread between the two has been very tight, indicating that the buying power remains very strong.

Hong Kong is a free port, and we encourage capital and investors from different parts of the world to take part in our capital market. Over the years, we have been taking a number of measures to enhance the competitiveness and attractiveness of our capital market, no matter whether it is improving the listing regime, lowering the transaction costs, expanding the markets, attracting investors and capital from around the world, or offering new products such as the ETF (exchange-traded fund) listed on the Saudi stock exchange (and investing in the Hong Kong stock market). All in all, we will persistently and consistently push forward initiatives on various fronts. With an expanding market and more participants from different parts of the world, the liquidity and resilience of our market will be enhanced. The resilience of our market has been very strong. We do not think the current volatility in the market warrants the taking of any drastic measures.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)

Remarks by FS at media session (with photo/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases