The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, visited Sha Tin District this morning (June 19).
 
     Mr Lau started his visit with a meeting with the Sha Tin District Council.  He had a good discussion with the Council's Chairman, Mr Ho Hau-cheung, and other members on a range of issues, including the use of fiscal surplus, banking services and the business environment for small and medium-sized enterprises and securities brokers.
 
     He then proceeded to the Chinese University of Hong Kong and met with the Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Rocky Tuan, and his senior staff members. They gave an overview of the Bachelor of Engineering Programme in Financial Technology (Fintech), the first of its kind in Hong Kong. The programme aims to nurture versatile Fintech professionals through multi-disciplinary training on financial infrastructure, mobile payments, distributed ledger technology, accounting and finance knowhow, and more.
 
     Mr Lau also had a discussion with winners of two Fintech hackathons about their winning projects. He said he was pleased with their enthusiasm and appreciated the University's efforts in nurturing Fintech talents who are also equipped with entrepreneurial skills.
 
     He later visited Standard Chartered Bank's mobile branch at Yan On Estate to learn about the services it offers and how the community has received it.
 
     Before concluding the visit, Mr Lau went to the HSBC Shek Mun Data Centre, which supports the bank's data management in collaboration with its main data centre and back-office departments. The Shek Mun centre features eco-friendly architectural design and was awarded the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum certification.

Ends/Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Issued at HKT 16:20

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