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The following is issued on behalf of the Financial Services Development Council:
The Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong today (May 29) jointly hosted a forum - the second event under the FSDC's Practitioner Lecturers Series. Today's forum featured the Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Mr Peter Wong, as keynote speaker.
More than 200 students attended today to learn about career opportunities in the banking sector and to explore with senior staff from various university faculties and industry professionals about ways to get better prepared for a fruitful career in the sector.
In her opening remarks, the Chairman of the FSDC, Mrs Laura M Cha, said, "Through the Practitioner Lecturers Series, the FSDC invites leading industry practitioners to share about their own career experience, the outlook for the industry, and the prospects of working in the financial services industry in Hong Kong.
"We hope these events will inspire more students to consider developing a career in financial services," she added.
Mrs Cha also pointed out that financial institutions in the banking sector look for talent from all walks of life with different educational background and skill sets. "As long as aspiring professionals are putting the right efforts into equipping themselves, there are ample opportunities and choices for graduates from both finance and business programmes as well as other subjects to develop a career in finance," Mrs Cha said.
In his keynote speech, Mr Wong said, "A deep pool of talent and a diverse workforce are the bedrock of an international financial centre. The financial services industry employs around 230,000 people in Hong Kong, and banking is an area that offers a huge variety of opportunities to young talent. Given the economic growth of Mainland China and the pace of Renminbi internationalisation, the opportunities available in Asia to those who are willing to accept new challenges are truly tremendous."
The FSDC's Practitioner Lecturers Series is a project involving the FSDC and local universities, with speakers from the financial services industry giving talks to university students about important industry facts and the 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/Friday, May 29, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:01
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