Apec Business Advisory Council Meeting: Hong Kong to showcase culture, innovation and sustainability to impress delegates

The city will host a meeting of the Apec Business Advisory Council (ABAC) from April 22 to 25. About 200 delegates from across the region, as well as from China and the United States, will be in Hong Kong for the first time since 2015.

“Besides seeing Hong Kong as a financing center, we hope (Apec delegates) will have a different view of the city,” said Nisa Leung, managing partner of Qiming Venture Partners and one of Hong Kong’s representatives at ABAC.

Culture, innovation and sustainability are some of the areas that will be highlighted, she added.

To this end, the Hong Kong government announced a series of innovation and technology initiatives in the Budget, with various financing schemes to promote a vibrant and diversified economy, pledging continued support to make the city a global technology hub to make.

The government has committed HK$24 billion (US$3.07 billion) to boost the technology-driven economy and extended the Green and Sustainable Finance Grant Scheme until 2027 in this year’s budget.

Established in 1996, the ABAC is an advisory body that provides advice to economic leaders, ministers and senior government officials of Apec, an intergovernmental organization designed to promote free trade among its 21 members in the Asia-Pacific region, plus China and the United States. .

ABAC members are appointed by their respective economic leaders and represent a range of business sectors, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

The council consists of up to three private sector members from each economy and meets four times a year. The two other ABAC representatives from Hong Kong are Marjorie Yang, Chairman of Esquel Group, and Mary Huen Wai-yi, CEO of Standard Chartered Hong Kong.

The head of the financial department promises Apec to seize the opportunity to attract more American companies to Hong Kong

“This is a very good opportunity to welcome our good friends to Hong Kong, give them a better understanding and make their own decision about Hong Kong,” Yang said.

“This is a time for all of Asia-Pacific to work together to get ourselves out of trouble. The economy is quite fragile, and if we can work together on regional economic development, this would be the best.”

The theme of this year’s ABAC is ‘People, Business, Prosperity’, which aims to guide the council’s work on key issues such as trade and investment facilitation, digital transformation, sustainability and inclusion, a spokesperson for the Government’s Ministry of Trade and Industry. Department.

“Much of the work in ABAC resonates with the policy priorities of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in fact Hong Kong has many good stories to tell,” the spokesperson said.

“In addition to the ABAC meetings, delegates will have the opportunity to see first-hand the development of our city on several fronts, including logistics, smart healthcare, conservation, innovation and technological development, and to exchange views with some of our leaders in the businesslife. associations and professional bodies.”