Financial Secretary leads delegation to Bay Area

Financial Secretary Paul Chan led a delegation to the San Francisco Bay Area on May 28 – 30 to promote Hong Kong advantages to US businesses as well as to take part in a dialogue between the California Bay Area and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and a function on climate action in Berkeley, California.

Mr Chan delivered a keynote speech at a business luncheon jointly organized by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco and the Bay Area Council. Speaking on Hong Kong’s latest economic situation, he emphasized the developmental advantages of the GBA, including Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center and an international innovation and technology hub, as well as its super connector role in the bay area, which he said can present business opportunities for companies from Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.

At the luncheon, in the presence of Mr Chan and Bay Area Council China Initiative Committee Co-Chair Kevin Xu, Invest Hong Kong and the Bay Area Council signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly promote investment exchanges between Hong Kong and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Mr Chan also spoke at the Bay to Bay Dialogue which focused on the co-operation between the GBA and the San Francisco Bay Area in various aspects. Mr Chan shared Hong Kong's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and the low-carbon transformation policy measures adopted to achieve such a goal. While expressing his hope that the dialogue will mark the beginning of more extensive and deeper co-operation between the two places, Mr Chan pointed out that apart from green development, Hong Kong, playing its unique role, can become an ideal location for the two bay areas to connect in terms of investment and businesses.

Leveraging the opportunities arising from the bay to bay dialogue, letters of intent and an MOU were signed between Hong Kong and partners in the San Francisco Bay Area.

They are: Letter of Intent on Collaboration signed by the Financial Services & the Treasury Bureau with the California-China Climate Institute to strengthen collaboration on carbon market development and sustainable finance; the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Invest Hong Kong and the Bay Area Council of San Francisco to facilitate exchanges in investment promotion and green and sustainable development; and Letter of Intent on Collaboration signed by the University of Hong Kong with the California-China Climate Institute to promote the nurturing of talent and youth exchanges and training.

Mr Chan and the delegation attended the US-China High-Level Event on Subnational Climate Action where the Financial Secretary spoke on Hong Kong's strategies and processes towards carbon neutrality, including the popularization of electric vehicles and works carried out in green finance and green technology.

Apart from speaking engagements, the Financial Secretary also met executives of five startups from the Hong Kong Science Park who were in Silicon Valley receiving training from startup accelerator Plug and Play which is planning to establish a branch in Hong Kong.

Mr Chan also visited alternative asset management company TPG, which has plans for development in Hong Kong, and two technology companies engaged in R&D and plastic materials recycling.

During the visit, Mr Chan met with Consul General of China in San Francisco Zhang Jianmin. They exchanged views on co-operation between the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as China-US relations and the latest developments in Hong Kong.