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The following is issued on behalf of the Advisory Committee on Human Resources Development in the Financial Services Sector:
More than 700 participants gathered today (March 15) at a conference at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) where financial experts and academics shared their experience in the financial services sector.
The conference, with the theme “Forthcoming Human Resources Challenges in the Financial Services Sector of Hong Kong”, was jointly organised by the Advisory Committee on Human Resources Development in the Financial Services Sector (FinMan Committee) and CUHK. It provided a platform for distinguished financial experts to share their experience and insights with university students on the human resources challenges facing the financial services sector.
Delivering the keynote address, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, said that concerted efforts by the Government, universities and the industry, individually as well as collaboratively, were needed to nurture financial talent to maintain Hong Kong’s competitive edge as an international financial centre.
Professor Chan said Hong Kong’s success as a major international financial centre could be attributed, to a large extent, to the availability of a big pool of financial talent.
“Over the years, the Government, universities and the industry have invested heavily in nurturing our talent. Since the global competition for talent has become more intense than ever, we need a strong commitment from everyone in society to carry forward the mission of nurturing talent in order to sustain Hong Kong’s competitiveness”, he said.
Professor Chan said the Government had been devoting more than $50 billion a year in education to build up a pool of local talent. Measures were also implemented to attract talent from the Mainland and overseas to come and contribute to the financial services development of Hong Kong.
Professor Chan also highlighted the pivotal role of universities in educating Hong Kong’s financial work force. He said the proportion of the population with post-secondary education in the field of “business and commercial studies” had increased from 26% in 1996 to 32% in 2006.
On the financial industry front, Professor Chan encouraged more companies to participate in internship programmes which are a valuable means for students to acquire practicable industry knowledge and appreciate real-life working requirements.
Professor Chan was confident that with the collaborative efforts of all parties involved, Hong Kong could again rise to the challenge and scale new heights in the development of Hong Kong’s financial services industry.
The Acting Vice-Chancellor of CUHK, Professor Kenneth Young, said that the FinMan Committee and CUHK shared the same commitment to nurturing talent for the financial services sector in Hong Kong, thereby enhancing Hong Kong’s strategic position as a hub of international trade and finance.
Today’s conference consisted of two panel discussions. The first panel addressed prevailing manpower needs faced by financial institutions and how these needs translated into skill mix, knowledge and quality expected of university graduates. The second panel focused on sharing of practical experience by a group of university alumni who were working in the local financial services industry.
The moderator for the first panel was the Managing Director of the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, Mr Kenneth Wong. The moderator for the second panel was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hong Kong University School of Professional and Continuing Education, and Adjunct Professor of the Department of Marketing of Faculty of Business Administration of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Professor Linus Cheung.
Panellists of both sessions were all senior level executives and practitioners of prestigious financial institutions. Participating students were impressed by the valuable experience and sharing by these professionals.
The FinMan Committee was established in June, 2000, by the Government to foster better co-ordination of the efforts between the industry and academia on financial services manpower development. It comprises representatives from the Government, the industry, regulators, professional bodies and training providers.
Today’s conference is the fifth event held under the Industry/Academic Collaboration on Nurturing Financial Talent Series.
The first four events were successfully organised with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Lingnan University.
Ends/Saturday, March 15, 2008
Issued at HKT 10:52
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