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The following is issued on behalf of the Financial Services Development Council:
The Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) and the School of Economics and Finance of the University of Hong Kong today (April 23) jointly hosted a forum on financial careers in Hong Kong, providing a platform for prominent business leaders to share with university students and young graduates their insight and practical tips to prepare for a career in the local financial services industry.
Entitled "A Financial Career in Hong Kong: the Past, the Present and the Future", the forum is the inaugural event under the FSDC's Practitioner Lecturers Series, which aims to promote the understanding of career choices in the financial services industry. Today's forum brought together some 300 students to explore with staff from various university faculties and industry professionals career prospects in the financial sector.
Convenor of the FSDC's Human Capital Committee and Director and Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company, Inc. Hong Kong, Mr Joe Ngai, gave an opening presentation at the forum. He shared with participants the findings of FSDC's Report on "Developing Hong Kong's Human Capital in Financial Services".
"The financial services industry has a vibrant demand for young talent. Graduates should strengthen their industry knowledge and soft skills to prepare for a fruitful financial career," Mr Ngai said.
Honorary Professor of the School of Economics and Finance of the University of Hong Kong, Professor Frederick Ma, moderated a panel discussion session on "A Financial Career in Hong Kong" at the forum. He said, "I am pleased that the University of Hong Kong has co-organised the first forum to kick off this Practitioner Lecturers Series. The financial services industry is essential to the sustainable development of Hong Kong. Collaboration between the FSDC and academia aims to provide useful and latest career information to university students and recent graduates who want to pursue a career in this industry. We hope that university students with a high calibre and consuming passion for developing a financial services career can get more insights on this part of the job market, and that the interaction with seasoned practitioners can help deepen their understanding of the opportunities and challenges in this industry."
Other speakers on the panel discussion were the Group CEO of Nan Fung Group, Mr Antony Leung, and Head of Commercial Banking, Wealth and Sales Management of Hang Seng Bank Limited, Ms Wendy Yuen. They offered their experience on the development of the local financial services industry and shared their views on how such development would shape the industry's future trends and the new generation of financial professionals.
The FSDC's Practitioner Lecturers Series is a project between the FSDC and local universities, where a pool of speakers from the financial services industry will give talks to university students to share facts and skill sets required in developing a career in financial services.
About the FSDC
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government established the FSDC in 2013 as a high-level, cross-sectoral advisory body to engage the industry in formulating proposals to promote the further development of Hong Kong's financial services industry and to map out the strategic direction for development.
The FSDC set up five committees, namely the Policy Research Committee, the Mainland Opportunities Committee, the New Business Committee, the Market Development Committee and the Human Capital Committee.
Ends/Thursday, April 23, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:30
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