Following are the opening remarks by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Patrick Nip, at the inaugural seminar of the Expert Round Table for Economic Development Series, "Leveraging Hong Kong's Competitive Edge as an International Finance Centre", jointly organised by the Civil Service College and the Hong Kong Academy of Finance today (December 16):

Darryl (Executive Director (External) of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Mr Darryl Chan), K C (Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance, Mr Kwok Kwok-chuen), distinguished speakers, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,
 
     It gives me great pleasure to join you here today at the first seminar of the Expert Round Table for Economic Development Series. This is the first important seminar series we launch after the establishment of the Civil Service College last week. I am delighted to see the College's collaboration with the Hong Kong Academy of Finance. This seminar brings together experts from the financial and related industries to share valuable insights with civil service colleagues about the economy's future, and the opportunities and challenges facing Hong Kong as an international financial centre.
 
     The civil service is the backbone of the HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) Government and plays a crucial role in implementing the principle of "one country, two systems" and contributing to the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong. The HKSAR Government is committed to mapping out the future of Hong Kong in a proactive manner. In order to have the capability to do so, senior members of the civil service would need to be conversant with national policies and stay on top of the latest global development and, not least of all, appreciate their implications to Hong Kong and formulate the right strategy for us to move ahead.
 
     The establishment of the Civil Service College is a major undertaking by the HKSAR Government to enhance training for civil servants. The College will expand the scope of training programmes and upscale learning resources so as to develop our civil servants to meet the challenges ahead and stay current with changing times.
 
     Developing future leaders with multiple perspectives and foresight is a vision shared by both the Civil Service College and the Hong Kong Academy of Finance, and it is this vision that brings us together. As the world has become increasingly driven by knowledge and technology, it is no longer adequate for us to just adhere to and draw on what we are already good at in today's rapidly-changing and disruption-prone environment.
 
     This is particularly so in the context of public services. The delivery of good public services has close interfaces with the outside world, and thus depends much on our ability to understand and collaborate with professionals beyond our own organisations and to learn from them as an on-going process. Through bringing together leaders from different sectors, we aim to provide a platform to expose our colleagues to different perspectives. We hope to provide you with the necessary insights and inspirations to discover opportunities to innovate and make changes for the benefit of the community.
 
     Talking about opportunities, Hong Kong prides itself as an international financial centre and Hong Kong's economic prosperity depends very much on the continued success in maintaining this status.
 
     Promotion of mutual market access with the Mainland, development of offshore Renminbi business, strengthening Hong Kong's position as an international asset management centre, and development of a green finance centre in the Greater Bay Area are just a few examples of the tremendous opportunities presented by the National 14th Five-Year Plan.
 
     It is incumbent for Hong Kong to leverage the Central Government's policies in support of Hong Kong, so that we can give full play to our own unique strengths and bring continuous impetus to our economy. I am sure our panel of experts will share deeper insights and wisdom into the economy's future and opportunities.
 
     With the establishment of the Civil Service College, we will continue to scale up and strengthen partnership with renowned institutions in Hong Kong, the Mainland and other parts of the world, including the Hong Kong Academy of Finance, to develop training programmes to nurture more leaders for the civil service. The College has already had a series of programmes in the pipeline. I encourage all our colleagues to seize every opportunity to join the programmes and continuously enhance our capacity and capability to better serve the community. In this connection, I would like to make an appeal and take this opportunity to appeal to all of you to cast your vote on the 19th of December, fulfilling your civic responsibility and duty on the polling day of the Legislative Council General Election, and join hands to build a better future for Hong Kong.
 
     Finally, may I express once again my heartfelt thanks to our panel of distinguished speakers and colleagues at the Hong Kong Academy of Finance for their contributions, for their participation in the event today, and wish this inaugural seminar and more seminars to come in this series every success. Thank you very much.

Ends/Thursday, December 16, 2021
Issued at HKT 18:13

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