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More than 600 officials from the Pan-Pearl River Delta (Pan-PRD) Region and the Central Government agencies, entrepreneurs and key players in the financial services sector gathered in Hong Kong today (March 23) for a forum to promote regional co-operation in financial services.
Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, who opened the forum, first announced it last July at the Second Pan-PRD Regional Co-operation and Development Forum in Chengdu and received the full support of the participating provinces/regions.
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Frederick Ma, said the forum, with the theme of regional co-operation in financial services, was the first of its kind organised in Hong Kong. "The forum is to enable leaders and entrepreneurs from the Pan-PRD Region to gain a better understanding of Hong Kong's financing and investment services, and encourage them to use Hong Kong as the capital formation and investment platform," Mr Ma said.
"The forum has been successful and I express my deepest gratitude to leaders of the Pan-PRD provinces/regions, the Central Government's offices in Hong Kong, the relevant ministries and commissions of the Central Government for their full support, and the entrepreneurs from the region for their participation. And I am glad to have had international financial services experts as guest speakers."
"Today's forum has further consolidated the foundation of co-operation of the Pan-PRD Region in financial services. Looking ahead, we will continue to participate in and to promote regional co-operation in financial services for our mutual benefits."
Organised by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, the forum featured more than 20 international financial services experts who shared their insights with participants during four panel discussions covering equity market financing, private equity investment, asset management and bond financing.
In the morning session, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Mr Joseph Yam, gave a keynote address on the outlook of Hong Kong's position in the global financial world while the Managing Director of CITIC and Executive Council Member, Mr Henry Fan, spoke on "Corporate Governance - the Path to Internationalisation".
The Chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) and Executive Council Member, Mr Charles Lee, addressed the forum's luncheon on "Capitalising on Hong Kong's Advantages to Facilitate the Growth of Pan-PRD Enterprises".
The HKEx also conducted an "Information and Consultation Symposium on Hong Kong's Financial Services Industry and Listing in Hong Kong" for Mainland participants.
The Pan-PRD regional co-operation was launched in 2004. The framework of Pan-PRD regional co-operation currently possesses the greatest potential for regional co-operation on the Mainland, and its scale is comparable to many successful regional co-operation organisations in the world. In 2005, the Gross Domestic Product amounted to US$700 billion and the total volume of import and export reached US$514.3 billion, accounting for 36% of China and more than double compared with the year 2000.
The Pan-PRD region, also known as "9+2", involves nine provinces/regions including Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, as well as Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions.
Ends/Thursday, March 23, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:18
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