Hong Kong speeding ahead ‘to make up for time lost’

The restrictions along the city’s shared border with the mainland were lifted on Sunday and followed an extensive rollback of Covid-19 policies in both locations from December last year

A general view showing the Central Business District in Hong Kong, which is continuously modernising its listing regime, intent on capturing fresh opportunities presented by the changing global financial landscape. — Reuters

Issac John

Published: Wed 11 Jan 2023, 3:37 PM

Hong Kong is set to reinforce its clout as Asia’s financial and trading hub of choice after almost three years of Covid-19 curbs with a worldwide promotional drive next month to lure back investors, businesses and visitors as it pivots to normal in a “safe and orderly manner,” the city’s chief executive John Lee said on Wednesday.

Opening of the border with the mainland on Sunday, “one nation two systems policy” and innovative reforms, including new listing rules and tax concessions for family-owned investment vehicles, are among key factors driving the ambitious pro-Covid era of growth for the city.

Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee said he and his officials will head overseas soon to promote the finance hub’s return to centre stage.

Addressing the opening session of the Asian Financial Forum 2023, Lee said recent legislative amendments to provide tax concessions for family-owned, investment holding vehicles managed by single family offices would attract more family offices to call Hong Kong home.

Lee said he and his officials will head overseas soon to promote the finance hub’s return to centre stage. While global economic uncertainty would weigh on Hong Kong in 2023, the city’s future remained bright due to the ongoing support of the motherland.

The restrictions along the city’s shared border with the mainland were lifted on Sunday and followed an extensive rollback of Covid-19 policies in both locations from December last year.

“Rest assured, we’ll go fast in a safe and orderly manner towards our shared goal of everything resuming as normal as soon as practicable and possible,” he told some 2,000 participants at the two-day regional forum, which is being held as a physical event for the first time since the pandemic began in early 2020.

The city leader said as Hong Kong was speeding ahead to “make up for the time lost over the past few years” investors and tourists alike could now benefit from the resumption of quarantine-free travel with mainland China.

Stressing that financial technology is the future, he said Hong Kong is pushing the financial service sector's digital transformation to new frontiers.

“Today, more than 800 fintech companies call Hong Kong home. That's up from about 180 five years ago. They provide a diverse range of services, from virtual banking, asset management and insurance technology, to robo-advisory, blockchain, digital trading, payments and cybersecurity.”

He acknowledged that the local economy would be affected by global economic uncertainty. The International Monetary Fund has forecast that global growth in terms of gross domestic product would slow to 2.7 per cent this year from 3.2 per cent in 2022. While short-term prospects could be “challenging,” Beijing’s ongoing and wide-ranging support would ensure Hong Kong’s bright future as a global financial hub linking the mainland to the rest of the world.

“Thanks to the continuing and wide-ranging support of our motherland, Hong Kong's strengths as an international financial centre linking the Mainland and the rest of the world are primed to proliferate. We are actively enhancing our strength as an international financial centre. That means boosting our niche as a global offshore Renminbi hub, and an international asset management and risk management centre. It includes, as well, a continuing expansion of the mutual access between the financial markets of the Mainland and Hong Kong, to the great benefit of our capital market,” Lee said.

He said Hong Kong, a major global listing platform for companies, offering abundant access to capital, is continuously modernising its listing regime, intent on capturing fresh opportunities presented by the changing global financial landscape. “Last year, we revamped our listing rules for overseas issuers and established a new listing mechanism for Special Purpose Acquisition Companies.”

— issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com