陳智思先生致歡迎辭
（2023年4月17日）
Our Hong Kong Foundation International Forum on
Progress through Collaboration
“Connecting the World: Hong Kong’s
New Opportunities and New Future”
Welcome address speech By Mr Bernard Chan,
Executive Vice Chairman of OHKF and Chairman of M+ Museum
I would like to begin by welcoming the Chief Secretary of the HK SAR- the Hon KK Chan, the Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in HK, Ms Lu Xinning, Deputy Commissioner of the Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in HK, Mr Yang Yirui, the Under Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury of the Hong Kong Govt- Mr Joseph Chan, the former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, Secretary-General of the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council H.E. Ambassador Sihasak, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome!
At this point I would also like to pay a special tribute to the Hon CE of the HKSAR Mr John Lee and the Director of Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in HK, Mr Zheng Yanxiong who cannot join us today in person due to other unavoidable commitments, but who have recorded their messages which will be shown shortly via video link.
And finally I would like to thank Sino Group for their generosity in sponsoring today's venue and the HK-ASEAN Foundation for being a supporting partner.
Hong Kong has a long history of being a free port which thrived on trade through an open door policy that enabled us to become one of the world’s largest trading economies, and an international financial and commercial centre serving China, the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world.
However despite this rich history it seems that over recent years many people outside of Hong Kong have been having serious doubts about our future, and our ability to continue to make a valuable contribution within the international community. This was brought about by international travel restrictions imposed by the pandemic which resulted in our enforced absence from the international stage. And in 2019 we went through a period of social unrest which along with the subsequent restoration of law and order attracted sometimes unfair, unbalanced, but certainly continuous and negative international media coverage. I know from personal experience that this combination left many people across the international community, particularly those not necessarily well informed, with the view that Hong Kong was somehow losing its relevance and that any change was probably for the worse.
I think everyone here today and indeed an increasing number of our international friends and partners will agree that this is simply not the case However it has only been in recent months with the lifting of travel restrictions that visitors have been able to return for the first time in 3 years and see for themselves the significant progress and development that has been made in many important areas.
Despite the pandemic and in the eyes of many observers we are re-emerging onto the world stage, stronger and better than before. Our success is a reflection of the One Country, Two Systems framework which provides us with a unique, valuable and very distinct advantage.
However from my personal experience this is also a system that many international observers have difficulty comprehending, partly because there are no other benchmarks to judge us against. But for those with first-hand experience of being here, the system does work and continues to work very well!
President Xi's continued commitment to One Country, Two Systems is also an indictment of the importance the Central Government places on the unique role that Hong Kong has always played and will continue to play.
As a gateway to the international community, the system will continue to provide major opportunities and benefits for the global community.
Our status as a leading International Financial Centre enables us act as an offshore centre to service our hinterland of some 1.4 billion people and meet the needs of Chinese firms. But on the other hand we are also serving business interests across the region and the broader international community.
In the financial services sector, our IPO’s and the bond market continued to do well and the developments in virtual assets, Central Bank Digital Currency and Web 3 continue to create new opportunities.
We have been working tirelessly to develop our offshore RMB business with a view to fostering RMB internationalisation.
We continue to provide our international partners with a range of products and services which enable them to access the mainland market and other regional markets through a secure, robust and respected common law system.
We are very fortunate this afternoon to have with us internationally respected and extremely accomplished guest speakers and panellists who will share their views these and other matters.
Over recent years we have been consistently developing our connectivity as an international hub in a variety of areas and it is important to remember that all of our success and progress is a result of a history of long term collaboration.
As a regional logistics hub we have the advantage of interconnected air, sea and road transportation which provides flexibility in moving goods from one corner of the world to another. Security, transparency, efficiency, speed and connectivity have resulted in more logistics service providers setting up regional distributions centres.
As an aviation hub we are perfectly placed and have all of Asia's key markets within a four hour flight radius. Travel a further one hour and we cover almost half of the world’s population. Hong Kong Shipping Registry is the 4th largest in the world in terms of gross tonnage, with over 150 years of experience in ship registration, inspection and survey. A Hong Kong registered vessel complies with international standards including safety and protection of the marine environment.
We are making strong progress in a range of areas from life sciences, healthcare, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Also in the areas of information and communications technology, intellectual property trading, philanthropy, insurance, Web 3 and the Metaverse. We are also an increasingly attractive location as a Wealth Management hub offering a complete suite of services to support Family Offices. As a legal hub we were ranked the third most preferred location for arbitration globally in 2021.
To me, these examples provide clear evidence of the functionality embedded in the One Country, Two Systems framework.
As Chairman of M+ Museum I met museum directors from some of the world’s most highly regarded institutions and other important influencers who travelled here to attend an extensive range of public and private events in March. I was overwhelmed by the feedback I received which was a massive vote of confidence in Hong Kong and a strong endorsement of our role as the major art hub in Asia. I have no doubt that these people will convey similar messages to their friends and colleagues. Art and culture create new and valuable channels for engagement, dialogue and debate and have the soft power remove barriers and reduce tension.
Likewise sport has a vitally important role to play in our future, not only from the perspective of physical health, mental health and general wellbeing of those in our community. Sport strengthens our international connectivity and has the capacity to forge a stronger national identity. We have combined science, medicine and technology into our elite sports programmes but much, much more can be done at community level to integrate sport.
Like art and culture sport has the ability to positively portray Hong Kong to the international community. A recent example was last month’s very successful Hong Kong Rugby 7s. Teams from 16 countries participated in the men’s tournament and 12 countries in the women’s tournament. We are delighted to have Dr Trisha Leahy here today to share her views on the tangible benefits which sport can bring to Hong Kong and its role a modern and inclusive society.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the Greater Bay Area creating a potential market of 86 million people. This is a major part of China’s implementation of innovation-driven development and commitment to reform and opening-up. This is already providing significant opportunities for Hong Kong and is helping us to focus and redefine our unique attributes particularly in dealing with the complex but critical matter of alignment. We should also not lose sight of the role we can play in the supply chain as an R&D centre and a valuable test market.
Likewise the Belt and Road initiative is designed to reinvigorate the seamless flow of capital, goods and services between Asia and the rest of the world. The global pandemic and geopolitical tensions have somewhat slowed progress but think 10 or 20 years ahead and the opportunities and efficiencies of increased market integration and greater connectivity. Once again there are many opportunities arising for Hong Kong on this horizon.
Over recent years ASEAN has become Hong Kong’s second largest merchandise trade partner and in 2020 re-exports of Mainland origin goods to ASEAN through Hong Kong exceeded HK$196 billion. We have a strong relationship with ASEAN and that needs to be sensitively nurtured and maintained particularly at such a time of heightened geopolitical tensions. I have no doubt that our esteemed speaker Ambassador Sihasak will share his views on potential challenges and opportunities and possible share some thoughts on the forthcoming elections in Thailand.
Finally, I hope that this afternoons exchange of views and discussions will result in further collaboration and commitment which will enable Hong Kong to play an increasingly important role in the international debate surrounding these topics and other important challenges which we all face as members of a global community. In essence our future success will reflect - progress through collaboration.
Thank you.