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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council will co-organise the Asian Financial Forum next week to highlight and reinforce Hong Kong's prestige as an international financial centre.
The forum, carrying the theme "Leveraging New Opportunities, Advancing Regional Stability" is the first event of its kind to be hosted by the Government. Around 700 guests from global institutional investors, financial service institutions and high-growth corporates are invited to participate.
A Government spokesman said today (September 11) that the forum, to be held on September 21 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, provided a high-level platform for distinguished leaders and influential members of the global financial community to exchange views on trends and developments in the Asian financial markets.
The one-day forum comprises a plenary and policy dialogue session in the morning and three concurrent panel discussions in the afternoon.
"We are very pleased to have obtained support from many public and private institutions, and have secured an impressive line-up of eminent speakers from Mainland, local and overseas," the spokesman said.
For the morning plenary session, the Governor of People's Bank of China, Dr Zhou Xiaochuan; the Chairman of the Citigroup International Advisory Board and former World Bank President, Mr James Wolfensohn, and Counsellor of the International Monetary Fund, Mr Jaime Caruana, will speak and share their insights on the forum theme.
The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Professor K C Chan, will then convene a policy dialogue involving government representatives and other speakers from the region to exchange views from public policy perspectives relating to the forum theme.
The three afternoon panels will focus on topics of common interest to the financial community in the region, including "Investing in Asian Growth", "Asian Treasury and Bond Markets – Where to?" and "Asia – The Next Global Fund-raising Hub".
"With a special focus on opportunities and challenges in Mainland China and Asia, these interactive panel sessions will cover asset and wealth management business, corporate fund-raising options, and Asian treasury and bond markets," the spokesman added.
Speakers for the afternoon panels include prominent figures of the financial services community:-
Panel One: Investing in Asian Growth
- Ms Elisabeth Scott, Chairman, Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (Panel Chair);
- Mr Nicholas Moore, Executive Director, Head of Investment Banking Group of the Macquarie Bank Limited;
- Mr Martin Wheatley, Chief Executive Officer, Securities and Futures Commission;
- Mr Shijuro Ogata, Pacific Asia Deputy Chairman of the Trilateral Commission;
- Mr Yoshinori Go, COO, Nomura Asia Holding N.V., President and CEO, Nomura International (Hong Kong) Limited;
- Mr Liu Changlin, Director General of Investment Department, National Council for Social Security Fund of China;
- Mr Tim Throsby, President, Citadel Asia; and
- Mr Colin Grassie, Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific (ex-Japan), Deutsche Bank.
Panel Two: Asian Treasury and Bond Markets - Where to?
- Mr Joseph Yam, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Monetary Authority (Panel Chair);
- Mr Mark Lazberger, President and Head of International Businesses, State Street Global Advisors Limited;
- Mr He Guangbei, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive, Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited;
- Dr Gao Jian, Vice Governor, China Development Bank; and
- Mr Mikio Kashiwagi, Treasurer, Asian Development Bank.
Panel Three: Asia - The Next Global Fund-raising Hub
- Professor Lawrence Lau, Vice Chancellor, Chinese University of Hong Kong (Panel Chair);
- Mr Ronald Arculli, Chairman, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited;
- Mr Stephen Roach, Asia Chairman, Morgan Stanley;
- Mr Levin Zhu, Chief Executive Officer, China International Capital Corporation Limited;
- Mr Jia Xiaoliang, Deputy Director General of Bureau of Enterprise Reform, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council;
- Mr Mark Machin, Managing Director, Goldman Sachs; and
- Dr Pan Gongsheng, Secretary of the Board of Directors, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited.
The Asian Financial Forum is an initiative announced by the Chief Executive in his 2006 Policy Address. "Bringing together an unprecedented wealth of knowledge, experience and expertise, we anticipate the forum's speakers will share their insights on global and regional financial co-operation, as well as their outlook for economic development across the Asia region," the spokesman said.
"In view of the good mix of the participants, we also expect the forum to be a good networking opportunity for the financial and business sectors in the Asian region," the spokesman said.
More information on the forum is available in the website at www.asianfinancialforum.com.
Ends/Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Issued at HKT 19:52
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