The following is issued on behalf of the Financial Services Development Council:

     The Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) today (May 16) released its fourth annual report for the period from April 2016 to March 2017.

     In 2016-17, the FSDC released six reports to advise on strategies and measures to enable Hong Kong to expand the scope of financial markets and enhance its competitiveness as an international financial centre. The reports cover a variety of topics, including the Renminbi (RMB) capital account convertibility, green finance, Mainland-Hong Kong Bond Market Connect, the National 13th Five-Year Plan and taxation enhancement on origination and trading of financial products, as well as reinsurance, marine insurance and captive insurance.

     The FSDC also actively participated in several local and overseas events in close collaboration with stakeholders to promote Hong Kong's position as a leading international financial centre. These events included the Belt and Road Summit and the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, the "In Style . Hong Kong" Symposium in Bangkok, the "Think Asia, Think Hong Kong" campaign in Frankfurt, and forums in Jinan and Chengdu.

     Nurturing talents continued to be a key part of the FSDC's work. Apart from the well-received Career Day and Practitioner Speakers Series, the FSDC officially launched the FSDC Career Website (www.career-fsdc.org.hk) in October 2016, providing tertiary students and young graduates with useful information about the job markets in various financial sectors.

     The Chairman of the FSDC, Mrs Laura M Cha, said, "The global financial market in the coming year is expected to be volatile. Within the financial services industry, there also appears to be transformation, with the possibility of some pushback on the existing stringent regulations, as well as the emergence of new initiatives such as green finance and financial technology.

     "Amidst this new world order, Hong Kong should continue to equip itself better and strive to seize the business opportunities ahead, especially through proactive participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, in the further development of the offshore RMB market, in human capital development and in technological infrastructure enhancement."

     Mrs Cha added, "The release of the annual report today not only summarises what the FSDC has done in the previous year, but also symbolises the start of another busy year for us. The FSDC will continue to contribute to the further development of the financial services industry of Hong Kong through in-depth research, ongoing dialogue with stakeholders, and local and international promotional initiatives."

     The annual report can be downloaded from the FSDC website: www.fsdc.org.hk.

About the FSDC

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government established the FSDC in 2013 as a high-level, cross-sectoral advisory body to engage the industry in formulating proposals to promote the further development of Hong Kong's financial services industry and to map out the strategic direction for development.

     The FSDC set up five committees, namely the Policy Research Committee, the Mainland Opportunities Committee, the New Business Committee, the Market Development Committee and the Human Capital Committee, as the five streams of its work.

Ends/Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Issued at HKT 15:00

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