The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, attended the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Nadi, Fiji, today (May 3) and met with the President of the ADB, Mr Takehiko Nakao.

     In their meeting, Mr Lau thanked the ADB for supporting Hong Kong's capital markets through the issuance of US$472 million of bonds, including green bonds. He also thanked Mr Nakao for his participation in speaking at one of the sessions of the Asian Financial Forum 2018. Mr Nakao said he saw the Forum as a useful platform and he would welcome the opportunity to go again.

     Mr Lau added that as a leading international financial centre, Hong Kong strived to play an active role in supporting infrastructure development in Asia. He spoke about Hong Kong's efforts in promoting green bond development and urged ADB members to make use of Hong Kong’s deep financial markets to raise green funding. 

     Mr Lau also offered to share Hong Kong's experiences in promoting a digital economy and the use of insurance-linked securities to manage catastrophe risks.

     Earlier in the day, Mr Lau attended the opening session of the Annual Meeting as well as the Governors' Roundtable, various meetings and lunch, where he exchanged views with fellow members on fostering further financial co-operation.

     Mr Lau will continue to attend seminars and business sessions at the Annual Meeting of the ADB in Nadi, Fiji, tomorrow (May 4).

Ends/Friday, May 3, 2019
Issued at HKT 18:50

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