Hong Kong’s Advantages Spotlighted at WEF Annual Meeting in Davos

Written by Information Services Department, Hong Kong SAR Government

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach Newswire ^[1] - 23 January 2025 - Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Paul Chan, is among nearly 3,000 political leaders, financial officials and business elites attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Hong Kong SAR’s Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, speaks at the "2025 Davos-Caixin CEO Luncheon" in Davos, Switzerland.

Promoting Hong Kong's advantages and value as a "super-connector" and "super value-adder", Mr Chan has met with leaders from finance and business sectors around the world.

In keynote remarks at the "2025 Davos-Caixin CEO Luncheon", Mr Chan briefed participants on the latest economic situation and development strategies of Hong Kong, particularly regarding how to leverage the city's advantages of being well connected to Mainland China and to the world, under the "one country, two systems" principle.

Later, in a speech at the "2025 Davos-Tencent Finance Vision Dinner", the Financial Secretary elaborated on how Hong Kong can play the role of a "super-connector" and "super value-adder" in the face of an increasingly complex international environment. This, he said, would contribute to China's high-level opening-up and, in the process, create value and opportunities for global businesses and investors.

Mr Chan also informed participants of the WEF Annual Meeting about Hong Kong's achievements in attracting businesses and talent as well as the city's strategies and measures for developments in finance, innovation and technology, trade and aviation.

During a meeting with the Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Daren Tang, the Financial Secretary shared that with the staunch support of the country, Hong Kong is vigorously advancing to become an international innovation and technology centre and a regional intellectual property trading centre. He expressed gratitude to WIPO for its support in establishing a Technology and Innovation Support Centre in Hong Kong, noting that the city aims to have it operational this year.

Mr Chan, during a meeting organised by the Giving to Amplify Earth Action launched by the WEF, took the opportunity to highlight Hong Kong's positon as a leading green finance hub in Asia. He explained that the city's thriving ecosystem of family offices, private equity funds as well as wealth and asset management is conducive to effectively connecting wealth with climate transformation projects.

Mr Chan has met with several representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates, Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi (right), to further strengthen bilateral co-peration with the region.

On fintech, Mr Chan met the Chief Executive Officer of stablecoin issuer Circle, Jeremy Allaire to learn about the company's business development strategies in Asia, and Martin Gilbert, the Chair of Revolut, a UK-based fintech company specialising in digital banking services.

Building on the success of the inaugural "Gulf Cooperation Council Chapter" (GCC Chapter) at the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong earlier this month, Mr Chan met several representatives of GCC countries with a view to further strengthening bilateral co-operation and accelerating the signing of a free trade agreement between Hong Kong and the GCC.

He noted that the Hong Kong SAR Government will actively promote more two-way visits of business delegations, thereby facilitating the matching of projects in the digital economy and green transformation, as well as co-operation in the securities markets, Islamic finance, and asset and wealth management between Hong Kong and the Arab States.

Representatives of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, the MTR Corporation Limited and the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited are also attending the WEF Annual Meeting, which adopts the theme of "Collaboration for the Intelligent Age"

https://www.brandhk.gov.hk/^[2]https://www.linkedin.com/company/brand-hong-kong/^[3]https://x.com/Brand_HK/^[4]https://www.facebook.com/brandhk.isd ^[5]https://www.instagram.com/brandhongkong ^[6]

Hashtag: #hongkong #brandhongkong #asiasworldcity #WEF #financialservices

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.