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Following are the welcome remarks by the Permanent Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury (Financial Services), Miss Au King-chi, at the keynote luncheon of the Asian Financial Forum 2014 today (January 13):
Good afternoon, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
On behalf of the Hong Kong Government, let me extend a warm welcome to you all.
Hong Kong is a city with very diversified offerings. Our financial services industry in particular takes pride in our highly open market, robust regulatory regime and infrastructure support, rule of law, professional talents and free flow of information and capital. We are the gateway to Mainland China as well as the premier testing ground for the Mainland's financial reforms, which are important steps to complement the sustained advancement of our country's economic development.
More specifically, as the Chief Executive has pointed out this morning, Hong Kong plays an important role in the internationalisation of Renminbi (RMB), an emerging key currency for global trade and investment. According to data from the Mainland authorities, about 13 per cent of the Mainland's current account transactions were settled in RMB in the first half of last year, up from 2 per cent in 2010. Hong Kong now hosts the largest offshore RMB liquidity pool, amounting to more than RMB1 trillion. It supports a range of financial services in RMB such as loans, trade finance and direct investment, as well as facilitating the launch of a wide spectrum of RMB investment products on our platform, ranging from bonds, funds, shares and futures to insurance policies.
Fellow member economies from APEC are major users of the Hong Kong RMB platform. Indeed, among the 212 banks participating in our RMB clearing platform, more than 180 are from APEC economies. Moreover, around 150 banks and corporations from APEC economies have issued RMB bonds in Hong Kong. We welcome more economies to take advantage of our RMB platform to better serve their economic activities with Mainland China.
With our close ties to other APEC economies and the importance the region attaches to trade, investment and sustainable economic growth, it is most befitting for the Forum to invite Dr Alan Bollard to share with us his insights on cross-border co-operation and ways to facilitate global and regional trade and economic exchanges.
Dr Bollard is the Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat. Prior to joining APEC, Dr Bollard had a very distinguished career as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from 2002 to 2012, when he helped steer New Zealand through the global financial crisis.
Dr Bollard is now responsible for advancing APEC's agenda. In fostering regional co-operation, he said that, and I quote, "The advancement of APEC only happens through economic interdependence, no one economy goes ahead on its own." This is a succinct illustration of APEC's multilateralism of having 21 completely different economies coming together to agree on a whole range of initiatives. In a moment, Dr Bollard will speak on changes in border flows and how these may shape our economic agenda.
Hong Kong, being a small open economy among the APEC group and a leading global financial centre, has benefited enormously from the close economic and financial co-operation in the region. Hong Kong was among the top 10 trading entities in the world in 2012, and our stock exchange has ranked amongst the top five IPO markets for more than a decade.
We have been actively participating in APEC's deliberations and contributing to the forum's co-operation initiatives. We are delighted that under China's APEC chairmanship this year, the APEC Finance Ministers' Meeting will be held here in Hong Kong in September. This Meeting will provide an opportunity for APEC member economies to promote credible policies for sustainable and broad-based development, macroeconomic stability, and greater economic co-operation. Hong Kong is proud and honoured to be part of this process.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure you are all looking forward to hearing from Dr Bollard about the prospect of our region and how it is being enriched by greater market connection among economies. Without further ado, I would like to invite Dr Bollard on stage. Thank you.
Ends/Monday, January 13, 2014
Issued at HKT 16:19
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